Soulmates
by The Diamond Princess
Summary: Due to a mix-up, exchange student Kori Anders will spend a year instead of a semester in Jump City, where she meets famous playboy Dick Grayson, who attends her school. As they say, one thing leads to another and soon it will be up to fate to decide what they will be by the end of the year: boyfriend and girlfriend or worst enemies. Please rate and review! (A.U. story)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Oh, Jump City Day School, how I loathe thee.

Wait, let me back up and explain.

Last year, since my parents had decided that they were going to move the family from Tamaran to America next year, they thought it'd be good for me and my siblings, Cammie and Ryan, to spend a semester here to get used to things.

But instead of spending a semester with Cammie and Ryan here, I've to spend the whole year here, while Cammie and Ryan spend their semesters in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Why, you ask?

Because the idiot woman working in charge of our applications was an intern and had mixed them all up horribly. By the time, the agency had caught it, it was a week before we were supposed to go, and, by then, the agency sure as hell couldn't do anything to fix it, and my parents weren't going to pull us out, since the whole thing was non-refundable and crazy expensive.

Suddenly, I glanced up at the school building. According to its website, it ran from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and the elementary and middle school divisions were in one set of buildings, while the high school was in a different set of buildings across the common grounds. Due to some pictures I'd seen on the website, I knew that the school had a fairly sizeable campus with various fields for several sports and was surrounded by the woods. I'd taken a virtual campus tour online, which was just a bunch of really old brick buildings off a twisty back road. To top it all off, it had an elementary playground, a brick-paved driveway and brick pathways, and even its very own Gothic clock tower. It was an impressive school, indeed.

I glanced down at the outfit I'd picked out the night before. I was wearing a denim miniskirt, a pale pink tank with lace and sequins on it, a medium-sleeved gray V-neck hoodie, pink flip flops with a little bit of gray in them, and a cute pink and blue beaded necklace to complete the look, and my sexy red hair fell in regal waves to my waist. Hey, I might as well look good if I'm going to be spending a year in a foreign country.

I stood up straight like a ballerina and walked confidently. My shirt, tank, and hoodie were all Juicy Couture, and I always felt supercharged when I wore my favorite brand.

_Please let me look cute. And not tragic._

"Relax, Karina," I reassured myself. "You look awesome."

Okay. I was way too excited to stay worried long. The walls were still white with fresh paint, and I could feel my flip-flops squeak against the freshly waxed floor.

I walked down a hallway that led toward the gym, where I was supposed to receive my schedule, glancing at the occasional GO KNIGHTS! posters on the walls, and flyers that advertised various clubs.

After a few more minutes, I finally reached the gym and got into the L-M-N-O line. As I waited, I looked around the gym, where I saw more GO KNIGHTS! posters and a framed photo of last year's cheerleading team. Maybe that'd be me soon, jumping around in a uniform with my B.F.F.s.

Then the girl behind me poked me in the back._ Oh!_ It was my turn.

"Your name?" the woman at the table asked.

"Karina Anders," I told her. She handed me my schedule. I took a quick glance at it, to see if I had last period gym, while the busty, black-haired girl behind me got hers. The rest could wait.

Mustering up my courage, I took a deep breath and glanced at my schedule. First period Study Hall, second period Science –

Yes! Last period gym! It was a dream come true! With that finished, I carefully tucked the schedule into my backpack and tapped the girl next to me on the shoulder, just to make friendly conversation. She looked up.

"Hey. I'm Karina Anders, but you can call me Kori," I said extending my hand. "What's your name?"

She smiled. "Jade Nguyen," she said, shaking my hand politely. "What homeroom have you got?"

"Room 220," I told her.

She brightened. "Same here," she said, extending her arm toward me. "Want to walk with me?"

"Sure," I said, linking arms with her just as the homeroom bell sounded.

While we walked, I got a good look at Jade. She was really pretty, with long hair that was like a shampoo commercial, flawless olive skin, gray eyes, and full lips, sort of reminding me of Katniss Everdeen.

She was dressed really nicely, too. Her outfit consisted of a black leather jacket, short demin miniskirt, black ankle-length leather boots, and a modest white crop top with the words _Daddy's Girl _written on it, making her look like a sexy biker chick.

"I really like your outfit, Jade," I told her truthfully.

"Thanks," she said as we walked. "My mom always told me and my baby sister Artemis to dress to impress."

"That's cool," I said.

"What's cool?" Jade asked.

"The fact that your baby sister's named after the Greek goddess of the hunt," I said.

"Yeah," Jade laughed. "That's why she loves it so much."

We turned a corner, trying our best to avoid being shoved.

Oh, how that failed.

Two guys – a black-haired one and a red-haired one – that weren't watching where they were going bumped into us, effectively sending me, Jade, and our backpacks sailing to the ground, causing our supplies to rain down on us.

"Watch where you're going, ginger," the black-haired guy, who hadn't managed to lose his black sunglasses, growled, first standing up and then helping his red-haired friend, who had lost his glasses, stand up.

"You know, Rich Boy," I said calmly, picking up my things then rising to my feet, "it's that kind of attitude that get you in these kinds of situations."

Rich Boy turned clenched his jaw in anger. "If you don't get out of my way now, I'll deck you in the jaw," he said menacingly.

"Will you really?" I asked, scoffing. "See you later, Rich Boy. Hopefully, next time, you'll know how to talk to a lady."

With that being said, I gently grabbed hold of Jade's hand and walked the remaining feet to homeroom, making sure to sashay as sexily as I could, which, for me, was as easy as basic kindergarten math, while Rich Boy stood there, rooted to the spot, looking as if he'd been paralyzed standing with his eyes as wide as they could go, while his mouth opened and closed like a fish's.

_Score one for Kori_, I thought victoriously as Jade and I took seats next to each other upon reaching our destination.

Suddenly, a folded piece of paper landed on my desk. It was a note that said, _DO U KNOW WHO U JUST TALKED 2?_

Taking out a pen, I wrote, _NO_, in big letters underneath that and tossed it back to Jade.

She quickly scribbled something and tossed it back to me as the teacher was talking to a student.

I unfolded the note and read.

_RICHARD GRAYSON_

For some reason, the name hit me in the chest like a battering ram, but I couldn't figure out why. I racked my brain, trying to think why.

Then it hit me: when I'd first arrived at Wayne Manor yesterday, exhausted, Bruce and Selina had introduced me to their kids that were actually there – Helena, Tim, Jason, and Damian – and then they told me that they had another son named Dick who would show up momentarily, since he was at a friend's house.

But by the time the desert dishes were cleared, Dick still hadn't come home, and I, exhausted beyond human recognition, had gone to bed, with Bruce and Selina sincerely apologizing and promising me that I'd meet Dick at school the following day.

And now, here I was in homeroom, fresh from back sassing Richard Grayson, the adopted son of who was quite possibly the most important business tycoon in America.

But the weird thing was, instead of feeling overwhelming senses of dread, fear, and worry in my stomach, I felt a sense of something incredible but indescribable. I can't identify that feeling no matter how much I try, but I don't even care since I just gave Richard Grayson a taste of his own medicine.

_Not bad, Anders_, I thought, leaning back into my chair as the teacher stood up, having finished talking with the student.

I glanced at my watch. 8:15 A.M. Oh, yeah. It was going to be a good year.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The school bell rang just as I was finishing my last lap, signaling the end of the day.

"Time's up, ladies," Mrs. Clifford said, blowing her whistle.

As I reached the red line of duct tape signaling the starting line, I skidded to a stop to catch my breath, while Jade sluggishly jogged behind me.

"I…hate…you…Anders…" she wheezed tiredly, and for a second I thought she was going to fall on her knees and go _splat!_

"Aw, sweetie, I love you, too," I teased, kissing the top of her head. I walked over to my gym bag, pulled out a bottle of water, and handed it to her. "Here, this should help."

"Thanks," Jade said, snatching the bottle from me and downing most of the water in one go. "Ah, that hits the spot." After taking one more big swig, she tossed the empty bottle in the trash. It was beautiful, really. Nothing but net.

"So, Little Red," Jade asked, walking over to her gym bag, "do you want to come over after school today?"

"Can't," I said, plopping down on a bench and taking off my sneakers.

"Why?" Jade asked, doing the same.

"You know how I'm quarter-Greek, right?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well, the minute Helena found out, she was on her knees begging me to teach her. She _was_ born in Athens, you know."

"Ah." Jade nodded sagely. "Well, maybe some other time."

"Yeah, maybe some other time," I said, walking off toward the showers.

Five minutes later, I came out of the shower, clean and fresh. My outfit, which consisted of a yellow baby doll top, rolled up jeans, a matching yellow headband with a cute and swirly gray design on it, and cute shoes with a little bit of platform heel, was also in perfect condition, not a wrinkle or crease in sight, so that was a huge plus. (We didn't wear uniforms; it'd seriously tick the middle- and high-schoolers off, not being able to buy Anthropologie, and the parents, not being able to buy Burberry kids for the little ones.)

As I walked off toward my locker, I said hi to several people. Basked in their compliments of how gorgeous my hair or outfit were.

As I was opening my locker after finally reaching it – I swear, it took like an eternity – and getting out the things I needed to do my homework, I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to turn around. Jade.

"Hey, locker neighbor," she said, giving me a sisterly kiss on the cheek, then opening her locker, which was right next to mine.

"Jade, I swear to God, it's as if the universe is trying to tell us we're long-lost sisters," I said, making a double-check of my locker to make sure I hadn't left any notebooks or textbooks I needed, since it was only the second day and I didn't want to miss any homework.

"I know," Jade said, slamming her locker shut. "We're both in the same homeroom, and we have first-period study hall together, lunch, choir, and last-period gym together. Tell me if the universe isn't giving us strong hints."

We walked out to the school entrance and sat down on the steps, enjoying the sunshine while it was still good. Just then, the red-haired guy I'd crashed into yesterday, came out and, spotting Jade, made a direct beeline toward us.

"Well, hello, gorgeous," he practically cooed. He, too, sat down, but kept his distance, probably because he was afraid Jade would knock out his two front teeth with one punch to the jaw, and it wasn't something he wanted to happen.

Suddenly, the door opened again, and a girl with long, blonde hair sprinted toward us.

"Get away from her!" she yelled, skidding to a stop and plopping herself down next to Jade, then slinging her arm around her shoulders in a protective, sisterly way. "Can't you see she doesn't like you?!"

Ginger stood up and held his hands up in a display of innocence. I thought I saw him tremble just in the slightest, but I wasn't really sure. "Hey, I was just flirting. You know flirting with a hot girl isn't against the law, don't you, Blondie?"

Blondie's eyes narrowed. "First off," she said, "my sister is a _woman_, not a temperature. Second, if you flirt with her ever again, I will personally knock out your two front teeth." With that being said, she promptly gave him the finger.

Ginger's face turned red as a tomato and he started to back away, muttering obscenities under his breath. That was automatically my cue.

"Now your face can match your hair!" I quipped loudly, since he'd already gotten pretty far.

Ginger slowly turned around to face me. "What did you just say?" he asked angrily through gritted teeth, his face going even redder.

"I said, 'Now your face can match your hair!'" I repeated boldly, getting into a defense stance, just in case he'd decided he was going to walk back here and punch me.

Instead, he just turned around again and ran out of sight. I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

Just then, Blondie walked up to me, her dark gray – almost black – eyes big as saucers. "Oh, God," she breathed. "You've only been here two days and you just back sassed _Roy Harper_."

"Oh, honey, that was nothing," I said modestly, taking a bite of my granola bar. "Yesterday was only my first day here, and I back sassed Richard Grayson."

At this, Blondie's eyes went even bigger, if that was physically possible. "But – but – but –" she sputtered.

Jade patted her on the head sympathetically. "It's okay, Artemis. You'll get used to Kori's awesomeness one day."

My ears perked up. "Did you just say Artemis?" I asked. "As in, Artemis like your baby sister?"

Jade nodded, smiling widely. "Artemis, meet Karina Anders, the girl I told you about last night. Karina, meet Artemis Crock, my baby sister."

Artemis extended her hand out. I took it and shook it politely. "Oh, wow," Artemis said admiringly. "I thought you were just a myth." Immediately, she clapped a hand over her mouth and turned beet red.

"It's okay," I said gently. "If I'd been in your position, I'd have thought that the exchange student who back sassed Richard Grayson on the first day of school was a myth, too."

Artemis laughed. "I like you a lot, Karina. You're so fun and easy to talk to."

"It's Kori, not Karina," I clarified. "The only people that call me Karina are my parents, relatives, and teachers when they're angry."

"Oh, okay," Artemis said, taking out her homework and starting to do it.

She and Jade do look really similar, I thought. They both had the same full lips, flawless olive skin, shampoo-commercial hair, and Asian-shaped, gray eyes – Jade had told me that she and her sister were half-Vietnamese yesterday during lunch – but Artemis's hair, since it fell to her butt, was a little longer than Jade's and her eyes were a much darker gray color. Also, at barely five feet, she was a good deal shorter than Jade, who was five foot four, but her bust was slightly bigger. Other than that, they'd be absolutely identical.

Just then, the door opened again, and Helena walked out, followed by Tim, Jason, and Damian. _"Stomp, stomp, I've arrived!"_ she sang, announcing her arrival.

"Helena," Jason groaned, rubbing his temples, "stop with the Jessie J already. It's getting on my nerves."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Jason you're just jealous I can sing and you can't."

Damian snorted. "Lena, I think to say that Jason can't sing is a bit of an understatement."

"You're right," Helena said seriously. "When Jason sings, all the birds and creatures drop dead."

"Oh! Feel the burn, brother!" Tim exclaimed. He licked the tip of his pointer finger and pressed it to Jason's shoulder, making a sizzling noise.

Just then, all four Waynes spotted us. "Artemis! Jade! Kori!" Helena squealed happily, running over to us, then throwing her little arms around us in a big hug.

"Hello, Lena," I greeted her, giving her a kiss on the head. Jade and Artemis did the same.

Oh, my God, I've got so much to tell you," she said, pulling a copy of _American Girl_ out of her backpack, as the boys sat down next to us.

"Hey, Kors," all three of them greeted me, holding out their hands for fist bumps.

"Hello to you, too, boys," I said, fist-bumping all them in turn. "Now what was it you wanted to say Helena?"

"First off," she said, flipping through her magazine, "thanks for back sassing Richard yesterday. Oh, and if you've back sassed another guy, I congratulate you."

"How did you know that I back sassed Roy Harper?" I asked her, amazed.

Helena shrugged nonchalantly. "It's all up here in the mind," she said, tapping her temple.

"Anyway," Damian said, "what you did back there was good for Dick. You gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"Yeah," Tim agreed. "Dick thinks that just because he's Bruce Wayne's adoptive son and is rich, he can treat girls nasty."

"Yeah," Jason added. "He's the school's number one playboy."

I chuckled dryly. "Yeah, Jason, I figured out that part already."

"Anyway, I'd bet you like to know who Roy Harper is," Helena said.

"I really would," I told her honestly. "What do you know about him?"

Not much, to tell you the truth," Helena admitted. "It's just that if he's Dick's friend, I'd rather not know. Why don't you ask Artemis? She knows a lot about him." She motioned to her.

"Yeah, Artemis," I said, making her jump. "What do you know about Roy?"

"Well…" She hesitated, weighing her options. Jade leaned in closer. "Alright," she said finally. "According to legend, Roy's biological parents were Roy Harper, Sr., a forest ranger and an unnamed woman. When he was two, his father died saving some members of a Navajo Indian reservation during a fire. As a sign of their gratitude, the Navajos took him in and raised him on their reservation, where he became a spectacular archer. Then his adoptive father died – I forget his name – and Ollie and Dinah decided to show up, adopt him legally, and give him the company, which is his to inherit when they die."

I stared at her, stunned. "How the hell do you know all this?"

"Jade and Artemis are –" Damian started to explain, but a black Porsche pulled up. That could only mean one person. Bruce.

"Hop in!" he yelled, rolling down the windows.

"Yes!" all three boys cheered, running straight for the car, but Helena and I hung back.

"Bye, Jade and Artemis," I said politely, kissing them each on the cheek.

"Bye," Helena chirped, hugging them then running for the car.

"Would you like us to drive you home?" I asked them politely.

"Don't worry about them," Jade said casually. "Mom's just stuck in traffic, and teachers will tell us to come inside soon, anyway."

Bruce honked, telling me to hurry up. "I'm coming!" I yelled, starting to run.

I opened the door on the right and slid in next to Damian.

"So, as I was saying," he continued, having been interrupted, "Jade and Artemis are the school's leading gossip girls. They can dig up the dirt on just about anyone, no matter how well-kept their secrets are."

"Wow, that's intense," I said.

"I know," Damian said, putting his headphones on.

I did the same and before long, we'd pulled up in front of Wayne Manor.

"We're here," Bruce announced.

Helena practically threw open her door and ran inside, only to be greeted by Selina.

"Mommy!" she exclaimed happily as she was being twirled around, while the men and I followed at a slower pace.

"Oh, darling," she said, putting Helena down and walking toward me, giving me a kiss on the forehead. She'd tried to the same on the boys yesterday, but they'd squirmed and backed away, causing her to give up and resort to kissing me and Helena on the forehead. Besides, she'd already told me that I was like a daughter to her.

Because my father, Marius, and Bruce were really good friends and business partners, having met during their junior year at Princeton, my parents thought that staying at Wayne Manor would be the best choice, because they both knew Bruce and, oddly enough, I'd never met him, so it was a win-win.

"Where's Dick?" Bruce asked, narrowing his hazel eyes.

"I really don't know, Bruce," Selina said, brushing Helena's hair, which was a rich, dark brown and an exact copy of her own hair. Then her matching eyes narrowed. "Do you know anything, Kori?"

"Well," I said slowly, "when I was waiting, I sassed another guy named Roy Harper, and he backed off toward the parking lot and I didn't see Dick come out the doors, so I imagine he's with Roy somewhere."

Bruce groaned, running his fingers through his short brown hair. "I should've known."

"You sassed another boy?" Selina repeated admiringly. I nodded. "Good for you. I can't stand the people he makes friends with."

"At any rate, kids," Bruce said quickly, "dinner will be served in two hours. You should go upstairs at any rate and start your homework."

I nodded. "Will do," Helena and I said together, walking up the stairs two at a time while Damian played on his DS and Tim and Jason watched _Skyfall_.

After reaching the second floor and going our separate ways, I locked the door so I wouldn't be disturbed, threw my backpack on the bed and sat down, kicked my heels off, and started my homework.

I barely noticed the time passing until I was tucking in my last assignment for the night in my science folder while Alfred knocked on my door, telling me to open and that it was dinner time.

"Is Dick home yet?" I asked curiously once I'd opened the door.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Kori," Alfred said, shaking his head sadly.

"Oh, well. His loss." I followed him to the dining room, like yesterday, making sure to brush my hair and put on some slippers so my feet wouldn't freeze.

Once I'd arrived at the table, I saw that everyone was already seated. "Oh, good. You're here, and now we can say grace, " Selina said as I was tucking in.

After we'd said grace and started to eat, the only sound for a minute that could be heard was the silverware clinking, since everyone was so hungry. Finally, after swallowing a mouthful of cream of mushroom soup, Bruce said, "I'm sorry about all this, Kori," and he sounded like he really meant it.

"Oh, it's –" I started to say, but then, the door banged open so loud that it caused a mirror on the wall to fall and shatter, causing Helena to go, "Oooh! You're gonna get bad luck for seven years!" and me to scream and nearly jump out of my skin, causing me to spill an almost-full bowl of scalding hot soup that, of course, ruined my favorite jeans and burned my legs.

"Aah!" I screamed in pain as I felt the soup on my legs. "Get them off! Get them off!" I frantically clawed at my jeans, trying to get them off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dick laugh himself to tears.

"ENOUGH!" Bruce roared. "Kori, go to the bathroom and take off your jeans. Alfred will soak them," he added in a much calmer voice. "Helena, boys, go to your rooms. Your mother and I need to talk with Richard."

I ran up to the bathroom as fast as I could and slammed the door behind me. I took off my jeans and sat down on the toilet so I could look at the damage. My thighs were burnt, but only a little.

"Miss Kori?" Alfred was knocking. "Did you burn yourself?" he asked concernedly.

"Only my thighs," I answered, "but they're little burns. Barely noticeable. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh, no, it is, miss," Alfred said seriously. "Open the door so that I may see."

"Okay, just give me a second." I tugged on my fluffy lavender robe and opened the door. "Alright, you can come in now."

Alfred stepped inside. "Show me your burns," he said firmly. I pulled up my robe, causing him to gasp, but then he sighed in relief. "Glad you weren't exaggerating." He took out a jar of ointment from the medicine cabinet.

"Thanks for treating my burns, Alfred," I said gratefully while he delicately dabbed the ointment on my thighs.

"There now, all done," he said, putting the lid back on and tucking it back into the medicine cabinet. "My advice is to not wear any pants to bed tonight and sleep with the window open. The brisk night air will help."

"Thanks, Alfred," I repeated gratefully, giving him a light peck on the cheek. "Would you mind if I went to bed now? It _has _been an exhausting day."

"Not at all, miss," Alfred chuckled.

After I'd said good night to Helena and the boys, I thought about going downstairs to say good night to Bruce, Selina, and Dick, but I could hear them arguing, so I decided not to.

As I was thumbing through my copy of Maureen Johnson's book _13 Little Blue Envelopes_, after settling in for the night I heard the screaming get louder even though my door was shut.

Eventually, though, the screaming got louder and louder until it turned into hollering, and I could've sworn that I heard something being thrown – a hairbrush, maybe? – and clattering against the wall, but I just tried my best to ignore it and go back to bed.

But I couldn't, no matter how much I tried, and I'm kind of glad I didn't because that's when things got interesting.

Dick started hollering in another language at Bruce and Selina, and even though I didn't understand a word of what he was saying, it sounded like obscenities to me.

Then Bruce started shouting in Dick's language and I heard someone start crying – probably Selina.

Mercifully, after five more minutes of screaming, I heard Dick yell, "ENOUGH!" and walk angrily to the door, which he threw open with even more force than at dinner. Then, as if on cue, a car pulled up to the driveway and he stepped inside, slamming the door shut, which the driver took as a command to drive away as if on a Formula One racetrack. I thought Bruce and Selina were going to shout after him, but instead, they just slammed the door shut, and I heard them collapse onto the couch and Alfred's steps on the stairs.

Completely spent, I backed away from the door and closed it, faintly hearing Helena cry and Damian murmur soothing words.

I slowly walked over to the bed pulled the covers up to my chin. I tried to reach for my book and read some more, but it was a tremendous effort to even look up at my room through my lashes.

Now that I was tired, there was only one thing left to do: sleep. I snuggled up some more, sleepily murmured, "Lights off," since I had voice-activated technology – all the rooms had it – let my head hit the pillow and closed my eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day was Saturday. When I felt strong enough to unglue my eyelids, I saw bright, golden sunshine stream in through the windows, hitting the little prism I'd hung above my desk, turning the warm chestnut floor into a beautiful rainbow.

Covering my mouth with my wrist to conceal a small yawn, I glanced over at my clock. It was ten thirty. Not bad for my first weekend in America as an exchange student.

I pulled back the covers and sat up, wincing when I felt the sharp pain in my thighs. _Damn._ I'd nearly forgotten about them, and had woken up to a bad dream about having hot soup spilled on my favorite jeans. What I'd give for it to be just an awful dream.

I got up from the bed and gently walked over to where the floor was splashed in rainbow colors, and danced around in it. Back on Tamaran, I always did this in the morning; it made me feel fresh and energized.

Once I was done twirling, I tugged on my robe and went to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for the day.

As I was getting ready to brush my teeth, having washed my face and taken a quick shower, someone knocked sharply. It was Alfred. "Breakfast will be in five minutes, Miss Kori," he announced through the door.

"Okay, Alfred, I'll be right down," I said through a mouthful of foamy toothpaste as I heard him walk away to prepare said meal.

After finishing my business in the bathroom, I quickly tugged on a long, white, peasant-style skirt that came down to my ankles – I needed to wear something loose and flowing so my burns could heal – a soft purple camisole with a sheer shirt on top that fell about my shoulders and ended in loose, billowing sleeves, and my pink, fuzzy bedroom slippers. As for my hair, I put it up into a simple yet elegant French braid.

After lightly dabbing on some makeup and making sure I didn't have any stray baby hairs, I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. There. I was ready.

As I neared the marble staircase, an idea came to me: what if I slid down the banister? I was sure the other Waynes did it all the time.

Quickly, I sat down on the banister, adjusted my skirt, closed my eyes, and pushed myself forward.

Wheee! As I slid down the graceful curve of the banister, I felt the sun streaming in through the windows on my face and the wind whiz past me, making me feel as if I was flying. In the distance, I heard someone giggling madly, before realizing it was me.

My stomach gave a sudden lurch as the banister curved right, even though it was gentle. Then, finally, I felt myself slide slower and slower until I reached the end of my "ride." Relieved and delighted, I opened my eyes, hopped off, and walked off toward the dining room.

"Good morning, everyone!" I greeted. Then I noticed that Jason, Tim, and Damian were missing and Dick was wearing black sunglasses, even though it was morning.

"Where're the rest of the boys?" I asked as I slid into my seat, which was next to Helena's.

"Sleeping," Selina answered, "and as for Dick, I threatened to send him to a military boarding school located in the middle of nowhere – by which I really mean Maine – if he didn't drag his ass down here when I told him to."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

Even though Dick was wearing glasses I could practically see him roll his eyes dramatically as Bruce motioned for him to say something. "Because it would be my pleasure to give you this box of Godiva chocolates and take you out for a movie and long lunch today as a way to apologize for the horrible things I did yesterday and the day before that." He got up, walked over to me, thrust the box in my hand, and went over back to his chair.

"Oh, Dick, thank you! They're lovely!" I gushed.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, as if the lunch date was going to be his death sentence.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but Alfred came in with the food just then.

It all looked delicious: eggs, sausages, fluffy buttermilk pancakes with jam on the side, slices of watermelon, piles of fried potatoes, and, because Helena had insisted, a bowl of sliced strawberries. As for the drinks, we had milk, coffee, freshly-squeezed orange juice, and water.

As Alfred was setting up the food, my stomach rumbled like a volcano.

"Somebody's hungry," Bruce piped up drily.

"Yes. Very," I said, blushing a little.

"Alright, people!" Helena yelled, tapping the side of her glass with her spoon just as Alfred finished setting up the food and left for the kitchen.

"Oh, right. Yes," Bruce said, folding his hands together, then motioning for the rest of us to do the same. When Helena asked him if she could say grace, he nodded assent.

She cleared her throat. "God is great, God is good. Thank you for the food. Amen."

"Alright, people, let's dig in," I said cheerfully, loading a plate with three pancakes with jam, four sausages, and a small pile of fried potatoes, then filling a glass to the brim with juice. I couldn't wait to dig in!

As I was cutting up my sausage and preparing to eat, I heard the weirdest sound, almost as if cartoon characters were pigging out. I looked up, trying to see who it was.

It was Helena.

Currently, she was eating as if she'd never see food again, totally oblivious to the fact that she could choke or throw up. Honestly, it was disgusting, the way she ate, as if her breakfast would be last food she ever ate and she was trying to make it last until she died.

Disgruntled, I went back to my own breakfast, which was quickly getting cold, making sure to eat like a lady, the way Mommy showed me (yes, I was a fifteen-year-old girl who still called her mother Mommy). As I was munching on my pancakes, I caught Selina pursing her lips tightly together.

Near the end of the meal, as I was finishing my potatoes, Dick, having finished, threw down his napkin, got up, and ran to his room, mumbling something about calling some guys named Roy, Vic, and Gar. I recognized Roy, but I'd no idea who the other two were. As he ran, I let out a sigh of relief I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

As I lapping up the last few drops of my juice, having finished my meal, Bruce pushed back his chair and sighed contentedly.

"Ah, that was a good breakfast," he said, going around the table and clearing everyone's plates.

"Yeah, you got that right," I said, agreeing with him. "Thank you, Alfred!"

Alfred chuckled. "You're welcome, Miss Kori!"

"At any rate," Bruce said, going into the kitchen and depositing the plates by the sink, "if I didn't have Alfred, Wayne Manor wouldn't exist; I nearly burned it down once."

"Yeah, with your lack of cooking skills," Helena added, ignoring how Bruce just rolled his eyes at her little comment.

"So, what'll you girls be doing today?" Selina asked, going over to the couch to watch some T.V., finally picking _Grey's Anatomy _after some brief channel surfing.

"Other than the lunch and movie, nothing much, really," I answered truthfully.

"Just gonna go annoy Jason or something," Helena said, sitting down next to her mother then trying to inconspicuously watch the show, only to be told to go watch Netflix or do something else, since she's too young to watch.

Then, as if on cue, our very own Jason, followed by Tim and Damian, stumbled down the steps in an almost drunken way, yawning uncontrollably. All three of them looked pale and drowsy, with dark circles under their eyes. No surprise there, as they probably stayed up half the night playing _Call of Duty_ or whatever it is guys like them do.

"I miss breakfast?" they all asked in unison, having finally reached the bottom.

Helena rolled her eyes. "There's extra food in the kitchen," she said, jerking her thumb. Now her nose was buried in a coloring book, but she was still sitting down next to Selina and sneaking occasional glances at _Grey's Anatomy_.

"Awesome!" they yelled, running to the kitchen. Once they'd gotten their food, they sat down at the table and ate hungrily.

"Hey, Helena, do you want to meet my family on Skype?" I asked, hoping to cheer her up.

Her face brightened. "Yeah, sure!" she exclaimed, skipping over to me.

"Okay, let's go," I said, taking her hand and starting to walk up the stairs.

"So, how many siblings do you have?" Helena asked.

"Two," I answered. "Their names are Cammie and Ryan and they're away in Philadelphia and Chicago. Cammie's in Philadelphia and Ryan's in Chicago."

"Oh, that's cool," Helena breathed admiringly, letting go off my hand and starting to run toward my room.

"Easy, girl, easy," I chided her as she opened my door and ran inside, plopping herself down on the bed and reaching for my laptop.

"Fine, fine," she said, hiding her face in her hands as I sat down so she wouldn't see what my username and password was.

I quickly typed in _pinkbunny96_, both my username and password (I used _pinkbunny96_ for every single account on my computer) and logged on to Skype, hoping to see little green symbols next to _LilCammie19 _and _Ry-Man2001_, but only Cammie's username had a green one next to it.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Helena asked through her hands suddenly, making me jump. I'd forgotten she was still there.

"Sure. Go right ahead," I said, scrolling through my contact list and finally clicking on _LilCammie19_. Behind me, Helena sighed wistfully.

"What's wrong, Lena?" I asked, clicking on the green _call _button then the _mute_ button so I wouldn't have to hear the annoying sound Skype makes as the caller waits for an answer.

"I don't have my own Skype," she said, looking like she was going to cry.

"You'll get it one day, don't worry," I reassured her, keeping my eyes on the screen so I wouldn't miss Cammie answering.

Finally, after about a minute, she finally answered and a big video of Cammie, in all her webcam glory, pulled up. Ah, the joys of technology.

I unmated the speaker and turned it up to 80. "Cammie!" I practically shrieked into the webcam, giving her an air kiss. "I've missed you so much!"

"_Aw, baby sis, I missed you, too,"_ she said, giving me an air kiss. Then she noticed Helena. _"Who's the blonde cutie?"_

"Helena Marie Wayne!" Helena announced into the webcam, effectively introducing herself. She waved cheerfully. "Hi, Cammie!"

Cammie laughed. _"Oh, God, Helena, you crack me up!"_

"I know!" she exclaimed. Then her face turned deadly serious. "Why does your hair look like Miley Cyrus?"

My breath caught in my throat. Oh, no. Not "The Question." Ever since mid-May, when Cammie had shaved her hair on one side and had gotten it swept to the right, people had been asking her all over, "Why does your hair look like Miley Cyrus?" At the beginning, she'd just ignored their comments, but over time, the comments started irking her more and more – the fact that she had natural blonde hair wasn't helping, either – until her breaking point came on June fourth, when she'd grabbed a guy by his shirt collar, lifted him up, and threatened to punch him in the face if he ever asked her that again.

But instead of her face turning either red or rock hard, she exploded in laughed. _"Oh, Helena, you're killing me!" _Cammie exclaimed as if in actual pain.

Helena beamed brightly. "Thanks, Cammie," she said proudly.

Just then, the door opened and Selina walked in.

"Hi, everyone," she said, going over to the bed and sitting down.

"_Hi, Selina,"_ Cammie said. _"So, what brings you here today?"_

"Just to tell you that Kori's gonna go see a movie," she said.

"_Movie?" _Cammie interrupted. _"Why would Kori go see a movie?"_

"Last night," Helena explained, "my big brother Dick was late for dinner and he slammed the door open, scaring Kori and causing her to burn her thighs by spilling hot soup on them. And on the first day of school two days, he didn't show up at all."

"_Dick?" _Cammie repeated blankly, blinking.

"Oh, you know, Richard Grayson," Helena clarified. "Jump City's most notorious playboy."

"_Oh, _that _Richard Grayson," _Cammie seethed venomously, her face turning bright red. Then, remembering she was talking about the son of the biggest business tycoon in America, she started taking deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and eventually her face went back to its normal color.

"Hey, it's okay," Helena said gently. "I know you're angry at Dick; I'm super angry at him."

Cammie looked a little relieved. _"Oh, okay."_

"Good," Helena said. "Now, if you two ladies will excuse me, me and Damian have an old score to settle on Wizard101." With that, she left the room.

I turned my attention back to Selina. "Now what was it you wanted to say to me?"

"Right," she said. "The movie's two hours and ten minutes long, your lunch's at one-thirty, and it takes fifteen minutes to drive to the theatre and another fifteen to drive to the restaurant." She checked her watch. "Right now, it's ten fifty and you have to leave in fifteen minutes if you want to be on time."

"Oh, right." I turned my attention back to the computer. "Sorry, Cammie, but I gotta go if I want to get there on time," I said apologetically.

"_That's okay, baby sis,"_ she said, blowing me a kiss goodbye. _"Love you."_

"Love you, too," I said back, blowing her a kiss goodbye. Then I clicked the _end _button, which looked like an old red phone turned upside down, effectively ending the conversation.

"Kori, Dick should be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs like I told him to," Selina said, once I'd closed my computer. "Just put on some shoes and you'll be good to go, since it's warm out. Oh, and just so you know, I won't tell you what the movie's called – it's a surprise – and I've sworn everyone to secrecy." She gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead and left the room.

Sighing happily, I placed my computer back on the desk and pulled a pair of strappy weave sandals with chunky two-inch heels out of my closet and put them on. Even though I'd bought them a year ago, they still fit like they were made for me. It made me smile.

Before I could forget, I grabbed my purse, cell phone, a bottle of Poland Spring water – the Dasani served there was crap; I'd checked the snack options on the website – and my favorite caramel-flavored lip gloss before heading for the stairs.

When I finally got there, the first thing I saw was Dick standing at the bottom in all his spoiled little rich boy glory.

He was dressed more conservatively than I was, in dark jeans and a polo, but he still was wearing his glasses and trademark scowl.

"If m'lady is ready," he said in a totally bored voice, extending his hand toward me like an old-fashioned gentleman, "the Mustang awaits."

"Oh, why, thank you, sir. You're a real gentleman," I said graciously, accepting his hand.

Dick led me to the door, holding it open for me.

"Thank you," I said again.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, motioning for me to hurry along.

I stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. "Ah, that hits the spot!" I exclaimed, tapping my chest like a gorilla.

"Alright, Anders," Dick said, closing the door and locking it behind him, "know this: I don't do fun."

I snorted. "That's rich."

Dick completely ignored my comment. "The car's that way," he said icily, taking my arm and jerking me around the side of the wraparound driveway.

He'd taken out his keys and was starting to open the doors when my eyes fell on the most beautiful piece of transformation on the grounds of Wayne Manor: a Harley motorcycle.

Against my will, a joyful shriek ripped from my lungs, startling Dick and causing him to drop his car keys.

"God, woman," he breathed slowly, clutching at his heart. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"Sorry," I giggled. "It's just that I've never ridden a motorcycle before. My uncle has one, but he won't let me ride it; he says it's for safety reasons."

"Well," Dick scoffed, "you sure as hell aren't riding my precious bike."

"Oh, please?" I asked beseechingly, giving him my best puppy dog face.

Dick took one look at my face and relented. "Oh, alright," he grumbled guiltily, tossing me a black helmet with a hot rod flame design. "Put it on."

I nodded hastily and jammed it on, making sure to fasten it securely.

After making sure I'd put the helmet on right, Dick helped me get on and then got on himself. I laughed as the engine roared to life. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dick smirking, which only meant that he liked the sound, too. I wrapped my arms around him and, just for a nanosecond, I thought I felt something like nervous electricity crackle inside me and him tense up underneath my touch, but I disregarded it. Dick sucked in a deep breath, kicked back the stand, and allowed the bike to surge forward.

We shot down Jump's streets, my hair flying back like a banner, announcing our presence. My skirt billowed around me, teasing the bike seat. Instinctively, I tightened my hold on Dick, seeing as we were going so fast, laughing at the pure joy of the situation and throwing back my head.

"Faster, Dick!" I screamed. He obliged willingly, and the bike shot out between the cars, dodging traffic in a less than legal manner, but it was a hell of a lot of fun!

As we practically flew along the streets, I closed my eyes, relishing the moment. I'd never felt anything so exhilarating! It was like magic, the way he drove.

I opened my eyes again, wincing a little as the sharp sunlight stabbed them; I should've brought sunglasses.

"Dick!" I called over the engine's roar. "You lied!"

"What?" he asked loudly.

"You said you didn't have any fun, you liar!" I replied, pressing a gentle kiss to his back. Wait, what did I just do?

"Okay, fine, I lied, then," he said, giving a bark of laughter and revving the bike as we stopped at a red light. Fortunately, he hadn't noticed. He looked over his shoulder at me, and our eyes met, but not for long since the light turned green just then, but, still, it was enough to make me feel the electricity again, only this time twice as strong.

And so we were off again. We continued flying for a good five minutes, until Dick started to reluctantly slow down, meaning we'd arrived at the theatre.

We pulled into the parking lot. After Dick managed to find a parking space next to a white minivan, I hopped off and ran toward the entrance, with Dick following close behind.

"Hey, slow down," he said as I opened the door.

"Sorry," I said, stepping inside. The smell of fresh, buttery popcorn hit me immediately, making my mouth water. "I'm just really excited about the movie."

"Well," he said, " you've every reason to be 'cause we're gonna go see _The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones_."

"Oh, my God!" I squealed happily. "Thank you!"

"Look," Dick said. "Just because Bruce rented out the theatre and I'm taking you to a stupid, girly movie doesn't mean I like you. _At all. _I'm only doing this because it's either this or no life for me. Got it?"

I gulped. "Got it."

As we were walking toward the ticket stand, I heard some voices behind us shout, "Hey, Dick!" causing me to whip back around to see who it was.

Roy was standing there, still wearing his glasses, flanked by two other guys – probably his mindless cronies. Crony #1 looked innocent, with his spiked-up red hair, green eyes, and freckles, but it was clear he could be a wiseass.

Crony #2 had dark brown hair with shaggy bangs, glowing green eyes, and an impish smile that told me he liked to play tricks.

"Hey, Dick!" Roy called. "What's up with you, man? Why'd you cancel our _Kick Ass 2 _plans? Garfield's been whining like a bratty kid!" He jerked his thumb toward Crony #2, and I'd to purse my lips tightly together to not laugh. Who, on God's green earth, named their kid _Garfield_?

"Because he's going on a date with me," I supplied, linking my arm through his. "By the way, the name's Karina Anders, but you can call me Kori," I said, holding out my hand for a handshake. "I imagine Dick's told me about you, what with me being the hot redhead living at his house."

"Wally West," Crony #1 said, shaking my head and smirking a little as he eyed me up and down.

"Ah, my two favorite gingers in the world, Wally and Roy!" I exclaimed happily, giving them both a kiss on each cheek, leaving Roy flustered and Wally looking like he was about to fall over and die of happiness.

I moved on to Crony #2. "And who might you be?" I purred.

"Garfield Logan," he said, shaking my hand.

"Garfield!" I repeated cheerily. "What a nice name! From now on, I'll nickname you Catman. Oh, and Dick and I are going to have lunch after the movie and I'll buy you some lasagna to go. Be sure to remember to share with your friend Odie!"

At this, Gar's face turned purple as a turnip in anger, and he lunged forward at me, trying to attack me, probably, but I jumped back and Wally and Roy grabbed hold of his shirt before he could do anything stupid.

"Bye, boys!" I called over my shoulder, sauntering over to Dick as they practically dragged a screaming Gar away.

"You rat," he hissed at me. "Why'd you do that?" he asked as he was getting our tickets.

I rolled my eyes. "Just joking, man."

"Well, it wasn't very funny to me," he said, dragging me over to the concession stand.

I rolled my eyes again. "Don't you dare lie to me and tell me that you never do this to your friends."

"Sometimes I do it," he admitted, getting our popcorn and his soda, "but not like you do."

I rolled my eyes again. "Sure you do," I drawled dryly, walking toward theatre 11. I entered and walked up the steps to the very last row of seats, which was where we were sitting.

"Whatever," Dick snarled, sitting down next to me and handing me my snack. I took my water from my purse, opened it, and took a sip.

"So," I asked slowly, "what's your name?" The trailers were still going and I figured we should make some conversation.

Dick looked at me as if I had six heads. "My name? You already know it, Anders."

"I meant your _real_ name, Rich Boy," I clarified. "I mean, who names their kid Dick? It sounds so undignified, nicknaming a person after a swear word."

He sighed. "My real name is Richard John Grayson," he admitted.

"Richard John Grayson," I repeated. I liked the way it rolled off the tongue; it sounded so much more regal than Dick.

"Anyway, that's my real name," he said.

"I think it's a very beautiful and regal-sounding name," I said truthfully. "From now on, I'm going to call you Richard no matter what."

"Damn, Anders, you sure as hell ain't making this easy," Richard chuckled.

"Get used to it, Grayson," I said, popping a kernel in my mouth as the lights were dimming, which meant the movie was starting.

At first, I was nervous sitting next to Richard, seeing as he didn't like me a lot, but by the time it was revealed that Valentine Morgenstern was an ex-Shadowhunter I felt as natural beside him as if I'd grown up sitting next to him.

Plus, even though my family was crazy rich, no one had ever rented a whole theatre just for me, so it was very cozy, with just the two of us.

About halfway through the movie, I felt a small bump on my shoulder, causing me to jump. Richard had fallen asleep and, currently, his head was resting on my shoulder.

He looked so innocent I almost didn't want to wake him up, but after snapping the perfect blackmail picture and putting my phone away, I gently whispered, "Wake up," in his ear, causing him to shoot up like a rocket.

His eyes blinked opened. They had a crazed expression in them as he looked wildly around the theatre. "Where are we?" he asked.

"The movies," I told him reassuringly.

"Oh." Realizing that it'd all been a dream, he scowled at me. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this," he said. His tone was full of pure venom.

"I won't," I promised, and went back to the movie.

After about five more minutes of watching – during which nothing registered – I started to get twitchy. I wanted to see his eyes _so bad_. I didn't know why, but I did, thinking of Mom and when she said, _The eyes are the windows to the soul_. I knew that if I could just look at his eyes once, I'd know what was in his soul and why he acted the way he did, because my intuition told me he was hiding something. I needed to do this. I didn't know, but he'd never taken off his glasses and had sworn his whole family to secrecy.

I took a deep breath thinking about how to do this. I knew that if I just reached for his glasses and took them off, it would be like _The Phantom of the Opera_ where Erik has a hissy fat because Christine took off his mask.

Talking one more deep breath, I knew how I was going to do this: I would get his attention, then grasp his shoulders and give him a big kiss right on the mouth, and rip his glasses off his face while he was distracted, finally enabling me to see his.

Taking yet another deep breath – possibly the last one I would ever take – I prepared myself for my own little hell. "Richard?" I asked, effectively getting his attention.

"What is it, Kori?" he asked absently. "Need something?" He turned to face me.

"This," I said simply, looking straight into his eyes or, more accurately, the blackness that were his lenses. Then, before he could turn away, I grasped his shoulders – I swear I felt something inside me explode – and pressed my lips to his.

A/N: Oh, the drama! Originally, Kori was going to kiss Richard and this chapter was going to feature his reaction and the lunch date, but I decided against it, saying it was better that the chapter would end on a cliffie since it would add to the drama and the chapter was already so long (12 pages) and I didn't want it to be even longer. If this is too long for you to read, I'm sorry, but if you can read it, I hope you like it and please rate and review!

Love,

The Diamond Princess


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rich coffee and caramel. The first things I tasted as I was kissing him. The first legitimate thought I was actually able to form was, _Wow, he has really good lips. _It was true, too. His lips were plump and soft and moisturized. I wondered if he kept an eos lip balm in his pocket, but now was not the time to check.

After kissing for about twenty seconds, I broke off our little make-out session, letting both of us come up for air, since I felt like I was going to implode. Or was it explode? Anyway, all that I knew was I needed air and fast, because if I didn't get it soon, I'd cease to exist.

Next to me, Richard coughed, choked, and sputtered, clutching his throat. "Why the _hell_ did you do that?" he gasped, reaching for his soda, opening it, and then probably downing all of it, as if that could erase the taste of me, all the while shuddering dramatically.

_I'm sorry, Richard, _I thought apologetically. When he was more or less facing me, I reached up and, before he could even find the breath to scream, I yanked off his glasses, catching a tiny flash of blue before he turned his face away.

Blue!

So that's what his eye color was. Blue. Plain, old blue. I let out a breath. Really, if someone went to such lengths to hide their eyes, you'd have expected them to have a more exotic eye color, like, I don't know, very dark brown with white flecks in the irises. Talk about _major _disappointment.

Suddenly, the sound of someone yelling broke me out of my reverie. I almost turned around to see who it was before I realized it was Richard. And, sure enough, his Phantom-like reaction was just what I'd expected.

"Give it back, dammit!" he all but roared, covering his face with his arm and blindly groping at the air in hopes of getting his glasses back. I quickly handed them back to him.

"Thank you," he huffed, placing them back on.

"You're welcome," I said quietly, looking down at my hands. I tried to force myself to focus on the movie, but I just couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. My hands, it seemed, were more interesting to me now than any movie in the world. Between us, the tension was so thick that you'd need two knives to cut it.

All of a sudden, I heard a noise like popcorn crunching, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. Since I'd been so lost in my thoughts, I'd forgotten that Richard was with me. Currently, he was stuffing every popcorn mouthful he could hold, like Helena had done at breakfast.

Seeing that I was staring at him, he venomously asked, "What?" and shoved a handful toward me.

"No, thank you," I said politely. "I'm full."

"Suit yourself," he said, popping it all in his mouth.

I swallowed hard, feeling a lump that I hadn't even known was there go down my throat. I _had_ to get out of here – and fast. If I didn't, I would explode. My palms felt cold and clammy, I felt sweaty and itchy, and the nervous electricity in me and tension grew with each passing second, making me feel like I was going to pass out.

"I, uh, need to go to the bathroom," I hastily mumbled like an idiot, scrambling to get out of row. After I managed to get out, my feet, as if they had a mind of their own, practically flew down the steps and out into the hallway.

Glancing left and right, I struggled to find a bathroom, but didn't see any signs that said _Bathroom_. Giving up, I just started running right at top speed, not caring where I was going, until I skidded on the freshly-mopped concession stand tiles. (If you asked me, I thought that the fact that the concession stand had a tile floor and the rest of the theatre was carpeted was superdumb.)

Instinctively, I reached out for something to grab on to keep from falling, which just so happened to be a young girl's uniform shirt collar, causing her to choke a little.

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry," I apologized quickly, immediately letting go of her shirt.

"Oh, no, it's fine, love," she said in a New Zealand accent, rubbing her neck.

"I just wanted to find a bathroom," I said. "I didn't mean to choke you."

"As I said," she said, "it's fine and the bathroom's down the hall and to the left."

"Thanks," I said gratefully, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, and what's your name?"

"Antonia Monetti," she said.

"Well, hi, Antonia, it's nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Kori," she said, shaking my hand. "Oh, and I know your name since your back sassing exploits are legendary."

I laughed. "Sure you do."

Antonia chuckled. "Well, it's been nice to meet you, Kori."

"You, too, Antonia," I said.

"Oh, and don't run next time!" she called after me.

I think she might've said something else, but I didn't hear it since I was already running. When I got the bathroom, the first thing I did was slam the door behind me and run into a stall.

_What have I done? _I thought angrily, drawing my knees closer to my chest. The toilet seat felt cold beneath my skin, but I welcomed it, since it was something else to feel other than that damn electricity.

_Damn his stupid, perfect lips,_ I thought angrily. _Damn my stupidity. _I buried my face in my hands, but immediately pulled them back when it felt wet. Since when was my face wet? I unlocked the stall and walked over to the sink mirror to see why.

Once I got there, I jumped a little at my reflection. My eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot, and my face was sweaty, red, and flushed. I'd been crying. But since when? I quickly brushed away another tear that was streaming down my face and turned on the water.

After I'd splashed some water on my face, hoping to get rid of the damage, and reapplied my makeup – good thing I bring my purse with me everywhere – I was finally ready to go back to the theatre. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked out back the way I came. I

By the time, I got back to theater 11 and went inside, I saw Richard and felt the electricity again. Sitting down next to each other after what just happened would _so_ not be a good idea, so, instead, I just went to the very first row of seats and sat down on the farthest right seat I could find, hoping it would thin the tension between us.

It didn't work. If anything, it just seemed to make the tension even thicker, which, coupled with the fact that I could feel Richard's eyes on me, wasn't helping things at all.

I refused to let myself do nothing but stare at my hands for the next thirty minutes until the movie ended, so I tried to force myself to watch, but that didn't work, since I'd lost interest in the movie a _long_ time ago.

Instead, I just drew my knees to my chest and cuddled up in my jacket, letting its fleecy insides blot everything else out.

"Wake up, Kori, it's time to go," someone said in my ear, making me jump. I rubbed my eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden change in lighting.

"Yes, Richard?" I asked groggily. "What is it?"

"The movie ended thirty minutes ago and you fell asleep," he answered, taking my hand and helping me stand up. "We've to go to lunch now."

"Sorry about that," I said, feeling myself blush a little. "Didn't mean to."

It's okay," Richard said, leading me out the door. Once we were out, I'd to blink a couple of times to get used to the light.

As we walked past the concession stand, I remembered Antonia and started to say goodbye to her but stopped when I saw she wasn't there. Huh. I was a bit sad that her shift had ended, but maybe I'd see her next time.

We walked out of the door and into the parking lot, where Richard's Harley automatically made me break out into a huge grin. It was then, I decided, that seeing the Harley was something I'd never tire of.

Against my will, I started running faster so I could feel its plush leather seats, the cold, sleek metal, etc., etc., but, due to my obnoxiously chunky heels, I stumbled and would've fallen flat on my face had Richard not caught me.

"Easy, Kors," he whispered, his breath hot in my ear, causing the electricity to kick in reflexively. His hand was on my back, gentle yet firm, driving me crazy.

"Thanks," I said quickly, hoping and praying that he didn't see how bad I was blushing. "For supporting me, you know."

He smirked confidently, almost arrogantly. "Hey, no problem," he said, getting on and patting the space behind. "Get on."

I obeyed, putting on the helmet and wrapping my hands around his waist, and, before I even had time to shriek joyfully, we tore down Jump's streets yet again, only this time even faster – so fast, in fact, that I thought I saw a police car on our trail, but, at that point, I was just concentrating on not going crazy or sweating to death, since it seemed like we were even closer this time.

As we were riding, I finally worked up enough nerve to ask a question. "Richard?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"What made you nickname me Kors?" I asked curiously.

"Well, you've most likely heard of the brand Michael Kors, and you dress _way _better than some girls I've dated, so that's where I got the idea," he said.

"Oh." I blushed so bad it felt like my face was on fire. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said.

Now that I'd gotten the question out of my system, I felt a little better, sort of like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders but I still felt nervous, but it was a beautiful day out, and I wasn't going to let it go to waste, so I just sucked it up, closed my eyes, put my head on Richard's shoulder, and basked in the warm sunshine on my face.

We arrived at the restaurant approximately five minutes later. Richard held open the door for me, revealing a casual yet elegant restaurant. The walls were entirely made of glass, letting the sunshine stream in, coupled with mahogany hardwood floors, which was a nice touch. Soothing jazz music played, creating a relaxing atmosphere. There were wooden tables coupled with long, plush seats that sort of looked like couches, which was very nice. On the walls were renditions of famous paintings or inspirational quotes, and the ornately-dressed waiters and waitresses scurried back and forth, bringing customers their meals. Overall, it was really nice and struck me as a cozy place. The hostess stood at a podium, welcoming people in and assigning them their seats. She eyed us carefully, before standing up straighter.

"Are you here under a reservation?" she asked us.

"Yes, ma'am," Richard said. "We should be under 'Richard Grayson.'" He tapped the paper.

The hostess's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, blushing. "What a pleasure it is to have the famous Richard Grayson visit our restaurant!" She turned around and led us to a private table on the side.

"Here you are," she said as we sat down, setting menus on the table. "I hope you like your seats." With that, she turned and left.

"So," Richard asked slowly, "how do you like it?"

"It's very elegant yet so casual and relaxed at the same time. I love it," I said truthfully. The fact that we were sitting across from each other was somewhat helpful.

"Listen, I'm really sorry that I burned your thighs that night," he said, sounding like he truly meant it.

"Oh, no, it's fine," I said nonchalantly. "They're just baby burns and are already getting better."

"No, it's not," Richard insisted. "I was an ass back there and shouldn't have been."

"Yeah, you were," I said, snorting, "but the past is in the past and all is forgiven, so there's no use crying over spilt milk, like my mom always says."

Richard laughed a little. "You know, you remind me of this girl I once knew named Zatanna."

"Zatanna?" I asked, absently looking at the menu. "Who is this…Zatanna?"

"My first girlfriend," Richard explained. "She's the daughter of stage magician Giovanni Zatara. She kissed me on the cheek at my thirteenth birthday party and we hooked up on New Year's Day during a party at her house, where she gave me a kiss on the mouth. We dated for awhile after that, but then we broke up and she left to go back to the old country about a year before you showed up. But don't worry, we broke up on good terms."

"Very interesting," I said thoughtfully, taking a sip of my water which had already been set out for us. What was taking that damn waiter so long? "Anyway, what do you mean by the old country?"

"Italy," Richard said. "She's Italian-American, you know."

"That's –" I started to say, but, just then, a flustered-looking waitress ran over to us. Finally.

"What would you two like to order?" she asked cheerily.

"I'll have the fish soup, since I love seafood," I told her.

"I'll have the mashed potatoes," Richard said.

"Excellent," the waitress said, jotting down our orders. "Your food will be here shortly." Then she left.

"Tell me more about you and Zatanna," I said once our waitress had left.

"Well, for one, when I was younger, I used to take out prefixes from words to make new ones. For example, distraught became traught and nonchalant became chalant, and the like," he said. "Believe it or not, Zatanna did the same and pretty soon the school gave us a cool couple's nickname: Chalant."

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"No, I think that's it," he said. Just then, a waiter came by with our food.

"Here you go," he said, handing me my soup and Richard his mashed potatoes. "Enjoy."

"We will, thank you!" I called after him as he was leaving.

"Well, m'lady, shall we begin?" Richard asked.

"Definitely," I said, sampling a spoonful of soup. It was surprisingly good, I thought, and its saltiness made me think of my tears at the theatre.

"So do you like the food?" Richard asked, shoveling a tiny forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth.

"Very much," I said truthfully, and put my spoon down. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything," he said, putting his fork down.

I took a deep breath. "I want you to take off your glasses."

Richard gagged, water spurting out his nose. "What?"

"You heard me," I said, grabbing a napkin and waving it in front of his face. Automatically, he reached out, trying to grab it, but I held it out of his reach.

"Give it to me! Give it to me!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, ah, ah," I chided. "First, take off your glasses then I'll give you the napkin."

"Fine," Richard grumbled, seeing that I wasn't going to give in. "You promise?"

"Promise," I said, holding out my pinky finger. "Now take off those damn glasses."

"Okay," he said. When he obeyed and took off his glasses, I felt my jaw practically drop to the floor.

His eyes, which I'd previously thought were a plain, boring blue color, were now the most fascinating combination of cobalt blue and sapphire blue that I'd ever seen and probably would ever see in my life. Not only that, but the fact that they were lined by coal-black lashes the same color as his hair – the longest, darkest lashes I'd ever seen on a boy – only served to make them only more attractive.

Within seconds, the same explosion I'd felt inside me just as I was about to kiss him came back, only this time twice as strong, spreading to every nerve, cell, and organ in my body, causing my toes to tingle and my face to burn red as a balloon.

Richard smirked darkly, clearly enjoying my discomfort. "Like what you see, Kors?" he asked, as darkly as he smirked. "I know I sure do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go the bathroom." He got up and left.

As he was leaving, my eyes automatically traveled to my soup bowl, practically gathering dust. Picking up my spoon, I forced myself to eat at least a spoonful of soup before Richard came back, but I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried to, so I just pushed my bowl away, not even hungry anymore.

I rummaged around in my purse for my cell phone so I could've something to do and kill some time. After taking it out, I turned it on and not a second too soon, because I'd just gotten a text from Jade that said, _hey, girl! how ya doin'?_

I typed back, _ok_, and a couple seconds later, a new text popped up. It read, _there's sumthng u r not telling moi. spill it, little red._

I smiled to myself. Jade always knew how to weasel the truth out of anybody. I typed back, _well, Richard took me 2 C.O.B. & now we r eating lunch & I saw his eyes TTYL school_, clicked _send_, shut off my phone, and placed it back in my purse.

With nothing better to do, I found myself thinking about the kiss. I knew that I'd felt something when I'd kissed him, but I'd absolutely no idea what he'd felt. It was also the first time I kissed a boy like that. Also, his lips had tasted so good, oh, so good. I knew that he drank coffee at breakfast but where'd the caramels come from? And more importantly, how'd he know that coffee and caramel were my two favorite tastes?

_God, Karina, you're overreacting,_ I told myself, plopping my head down on the table. I stayed like that for a good two minutes, before I heard Richard's footsteps come closer.

"Wake up, Little Red," he whispered in my ear, causing me to go up then flinch a little at his eyes. (I still hadn't gotten used to them.)

"You tired?" he asked teasingly, sitting back down.

"You could say that," I said simply. _Tired of the way you make me feel is more like it, Grayson._

"Well," Richard said, "if you're tired, then we should leave so you can go take a nap, Kor."

"Okay, then," I said in a fake tired voice, making sure to add a yawn for good measure.

I waited patiently while Richard practically inhaled his mashed potatoes, then snapped his fingers to signal a waiter.

"Are you sure you don't want to take your soup home, miss?" the waiter asked me as he was clearing our dishes.

"Nah," I said. "I'm full, anyway."

"Here's our payment," Richard said, putting fifty bucks – a surprisingly expensive amount – in the checkbook. "Make sure to tell your manager we had an awesome experience."

"Thank you, sir," the waiter said, taking the checkbook then leaving.

"Well, Richard, shall we go?" I asked, extending my hand toward him.

"Yeah, let's go," he said, taking my hand. Surprisingly, I didn't feel the electricity. Instead, all I felt was this natural feeling, like his hand belonged there, which scared me much more than the alternative. The way he had this power to make me feel things I never thought I'd feel scared me.

_He_ scared me.

As I was fastening my helmet and waiting for Richard to get on his bike, I heard him say, "Okay, Kori, now I challenge you to sing."

"What?" I asked blankly.

"You heard me," he said. "Back at the restaurant, you challenged me to take off my glasses, and now I challenge you to sing."

"Fine. Challenge accepted," I said, "but on one condition."

"Name it," Richard said.

"I sing while you're driving," I said. "It adds to the effect."

"Fine," he said, getting on then motioning for me to do the same. "Just to let you know, we're taking the long way back."

I smiled. "That's just the way I want it," I said, getting on behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

After Richard had revved up his bike and we were zooming down Jump's streets for the third time that day at an appropriately fast – by which I mean freakishly fast – speed, he commanded me to sing, which was my cue.

I cleared my throat and began:

"_In the valley of the dolls we sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Born with a void, hard to destroy with love or hope_

_Born with a heart broken from the start and now I die slow_

_In the valley of the dolls, we sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Living with identities_

_That do not belong to me_

_In my life, I got this far_

_Now I'm ready for the last hoorah_

_Dying like a shooting star_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_Pick a personality for free_

_When you feel nobody_

_Born with a void, hard to destroy with love or hope_

_Born with a heart, broken from the start_

_And now I die slow_

_In the valley of the dolls, we sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Living with identities _

_That do not belong to me_

_In my life, I got this far_

_Now I'm ready for the last hoorah_

_Dying like a shooting star_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_Back to zero, here we go again_

_Racing down into oblivion_

_Back to zero, here we go_

_I can feel it coming to the end_

_The end_

_In the valley of the dolls, we sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Living with identities_

_That do not belong to me_

_In my life, I got this far_

_Now I'm ready for the last hoorah_

_Dying like a shooting star_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_In the valley_

_In the valley."_

"Wow, Kori, you're really good at singing," Richard said once I'd finished.

"Thank you," I said simply. "It's a gift."

So, you mind telling me what song you sang?" he asked.

"Can't tell," I said. "A singer never reveals her songs."

Richard smirked. "You do realize I could find it online."

"Yes, of course," I said. "I just don't want to tell you."

"Whatever," Richard scoffed.

We rode back to Wayne Manor in silence after that. By the time we'd reached the driveway, I was getting tired, so I knew I needed some computer time to help stimulate me.

Once Richard had parked his bike and I'd put the helmet back, we just walked to the door, not saying anything, enjoying the comfortable silence. The stately doors opened for us, revealing Alfred, who smiled warmly.

"Master Dick, Miss Kori, you're back," he said, opening the doors wider so we could step inside. "How was your 'date'?"

"It was fine," I said, just wanting to get away from Richard at the moment. "Where're the others?"

"Miss Helena's napping, Master Jason is at a friend's house, and Masters Damian and Tim are in their rooms," he said.

"That's good," I said, nodding and starting to walk up the stairs.

"Dinner will be at six-thirty, Miss Kori!" Alfred called after me, while Richard plopped his butt down on a couch to watch a movie.

After I got to my room, I closed the door behind me, careful not to wake Helena. I walked over to my desk, getting my laptop then sitting down on the purple, fluffy bed.

After logging on, sending some quick e-mails to my family, and some brief web surfing, I pulled up YouTube.

Perfect.

A/N: Firstly,you're welcome, all you Argent fans out there. Secondly, I hate Chalant (there's only one girlfriend for Robin, in my opinion), but I put it in there just for the hell of it, and thirdly, the song Kori sings is called "Valley of the Dolls" by Marina and the Diamonds. It is an AMAZING song and you should go check it out.

Love,

The Diamond Princess


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

On Sunday, Selina made us all drag our asses to the park, since she said it was unhealthy to spend all our time cooped up inside, but I didn't really mind, since it was a really nice day, complete with a bright, blue sky, dotted with fluffy, white clouds and the temperature was just right for a day out, so, after we all got dressed, piled into Bruce's big, black Porsche, and drove for thirty minutes, we finally pulled up to Jump City Park.

Jump City Park was really nice park – large, picturesquely dotted with lush tress, quiet and relaxing, the grass was soft, the air smelled clean, and crisp, and there was even a playground for the little kids.

I, however, had no interest in doing anything other than reading, so I just found a big, leafy tree that offered a nice amount of shade, sat down, kicked off my leather sandals, took my copy of _Divergent_ out of my bag, flipped open to chapter two, and started to read.

I was about halfway through chapter five – I was a fast reader – when someone cleared their throat, causing me to look up.

It was Richard.

"What do you want, Richard?" I snapped irritably, closing my book.

"To talk, maybe?" he asked innocently, sitting down a little too close next to me.

"Well, I _don't_ want to talk," I said, trying to go back to my book, when he snatched it out of my hands.

"Give it back, you weirdo!" I shouted, trying to grab it, but he held it out of reach.

"Ah, ah, ah," Richard chided me, the same way I'd done in the restaurant.

"Fine," I huffed. "Talk."

"So," he started, "every Monday I go to the diner with my friends –"

"Oh, no, not happening!" I interrupted him, standing up.

"Oh, come on, it's just pizza," Richard said, standing up, too.

No! I don't want to!" I exclaimed hotly.

Just then, I heard a little _pitter-patter_ of footsteps coming in our direction.

"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Helena asked breathily, her cheeks flushed.

"Your brother's trying to force me to go to a diner," I said.

Helena rolled her eyes. "Alright, you asked for this," she said, then promptly kicked Richard in the groin, causing him to go down like a felled tree, clutching at his balls while tears of pain streamed down his face.

Helena turned to me. "Call me if he ever does this again, okay?"

"Okay," I said, enveloping her in a big hug.

"Well, I'm going to go back to the playground," she said, breaking the hug and starting to run back to where she'd come from.

Meanwhile, Richard had started to get up. I flinched – I don't know why – but he just fixed me with a glare of utmost loathing and staggered limply away, muttering obscenities under his breath.

I let out a sigh of relief and sat back down, eager to return to _Divergent_, but found out that I didn't have an interest in reading anymore, so I just put it back in my bag, lay down on the warm grass, and let my mind wander.

Almost immediately, my thoughts drifted to the girl I'd met at the theatre yesterday. How'd she known my name and about my back sassing exploits? More importantly, why hadn't I been freaked out when she knew my name? Oh, right, 'cause I was so worried about finding the bathroom I'd completely forgotten to _be _freaked out, but that didn't matter anymore, because tomorrow I'd look for her in school, since I was interested in making some new friends, anyway.

With that issue settled, I put my sandals back on, dug around in my bag for my iPod, picked Debussy's "Clair de Lune," jammed the ear buds in my ears, lay back down, and just let it all hang out.

A couple hours later, I found myself staring straight into Jason's face, since he'd been told to wake me up, causing me to freak out and nearly punch him. Apparently, I'd fallen asleep three hours ago, and it was almost six, which meant dinner.

As we all piled back into the car, I expected Bruce and Selina to lecture Helena on how it was rude to knee her brother in the groin and Richard for whatever he did, but none of that came up, leaving me surprised but grateful, so I just leaned back and chilled.

By the time we got back to the Manor, I was totally famished, so I just dashed up to the bathroom, washed my hands, and just flopped down on my bed until dinner was served.

It did make me feel a little bit better, though, and I was totally willing to forgive the fact that it took ten minutes. It consisted of Moroccan carrot salad, twice-baked potatoes, slow-cooked pheasants (I had no idea how Bruce got them), and for dessert, croissants with strawberry jam.

As we ate, it was unnaturally – almost eerily – quiet, but I welcomed it, since I didn't want a headache. The only sound was people drinking and silverware clinking. Helena almost fell asleep twice, which led to Jason carrying her up to bed.

After dinner, everyone was so tired that they didn't talk much, and, as for me, I just went up to my room, put on my pajamas, brushed my teeth, and went to sleep.

On Monday, after we'd all been dropped off by Bruce, I felt so rested as I walked into school, sipping my water.

Once I'd gotten to my locker and started taking I needed for my classes, I noticed Jade and Artemis running toward me at top speed, both of them holding twelve-ounce Turbo Iced Coffees from Dunkin' Donuts in their hands.

They skidded to graceful stops, and I was finally able to notice how angry they were. Both of them looked so angry that I thought they were going to burst a vein and were wearing such deep frowns that I thought they would look like wrinkly little old ladies for the rest of their lives, so, naturally, I did the only thing I could do.

"Ladies, ladies, please," I said. "If you don't stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles."

Well, that totally seemed to rub them the wrong way, because they exploded on me.

"Wrinkles?!" Artemis asked furiously, which earned her many weird looks, but she paid no attention, and just kept on slurping her iced coffee as if her life depended on it. "Richard freakin' Grayson takes you to a movie and lunch and all you have to say to us is we'll get wrinkles?!"

"Yeah, Anders, what's wrong with you?!" Jade asked, as furiously as Artemis, but, right now, I was a little concerned for her, since she was nearly finished with her drink and looked like she had so much adrenaline and iced coffee flowing through her veins that she was about to combust, leaving the janitor to literally scrape bits of her off the ground.

"Yeah, well, I thought I could tell you at school," I said nonchalantly. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"Of course we didn't mind, Kori," Jade said sarcastically, opening up her own locker.

"Yeah, of course we didn't mind, Kori," Artemis parroted, opening her locker, which just so happened to be located directly across from Jade's, and collecting her things.

"Besides," I said, "once we get to homeroom, Jade will text you the deets."

"Fine," Artemis said, sounding appeased and slinging her book bag over her shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get to homeroom before Mr. Jones bites my head off." With that being said, she gave us both a kiss on the cheek, and dashed toward homeroom 220, throwing her empty coffee cup out on the way there.

Jade slammed her locker shut, causing me to flinch. "Ready to go?"

"Oh, yes," I said, slamming my own locker shut. "Sorry."

"So, do you like J.C.D.S. so far?" Jade asked as we started to walk.

"To be honest, yeah," I said. "And, this might sound stupid, but what's the homeroom teacher like?"

Jade snorted. "You seriously don't know?" she asked.

I shook my head no.

"Well, I'll tell you," she said. "His name's Light. Arthur Light. He notices everything but what's right in front of him, which is a huge plus. Also, he teaches Chemistry."

"That's cool," I said as we neared the homeroom door. I opened it and went over to my seat.

"Okay, let's do this," Jade said, sitting down next to me and taking out her cell phone, then getting into the proper texting position.

"So, as punishment, Richard took me to see _City of Bones_ because he spilled hot soup on my thighs and burned them," I said, pausing a little when I saw how furiously Jade was typing.

"Go on, go on," she urged me.

"So, he was wearing sunglasses, and, during the movie," I continued, "I wanted to see what his eyes looked like, and, as part of my plan, I kissed him on the lips and then yanked off his glasses causing him to act like the Phantom of the Opera in the scene where Christine takes off his mask. After the movie, we had lunch at the restaurant and went home."

"And done!" Jade exclaimed a little too loudly, and pressed the _send _button, causing Light's head to snap up and stare directly at her. Oops.

"Jade, hide your phone," I stage-whispered, but it was too late already, since Light was halfway across the room by now and she was concentrating on a game.

When I glanced up, Light was ominously looming over Jade's desk like a hawk and she, absorbed in playing solitaire, was completely oblivious to him. Oh, how I wished I could protect her.

"May I please have your phone, Miss Nguyen?" he asked icily, causing Jade to almost jump out of her skin. When she'd recovered, she just stared up at him like a deer caught in headlights, and, for a second, I thought she'd stopped breathing.

"Yes, sir," she mumbled meekly, and gave him her phone, looking ready to cry. Smiling smugly, Light snatched it out of her hand like an eagle does with its prey, and, walking back to his desk, tossed it in a drawer.

"Don't worry," I said soothingly, rubbing her back. "It's not the end."

She cracked a tiny smile. "You're right. It's not."

_Clang!_ The bell rang once, but I didn't bother standing, since it was only the warning bell, and I could practically _feel_ myself grow bored, so I just stared at the clock and willed for the time to pass by.

Then, finally, as if my prayers were answered, the real bell rang, and everyone stood up and darted for the door.

"Hey, wait up!" Jade called after me. "Do you want to spend the day after school today?"

"Yeah, if something can be worked out," I said.

"Then it's settled," Jade said. "Artemis and I used to babysit Helena so we can work something out with Bruce!"

A surge of gratitude rushed through me. "Thank you so much!"

Jade grinned smugly as we walked into Study Hall. "Yeah, I know," she said.

Suddenly, she tensed up and clutched my arm. "Look!" she whisper-hissed. "Roy's here! Hide me!"

"No!" I whispered back. "You have to be brave! And besides, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're in the very, very first stage of a crush."

"I am not!" Jade insisted quietly. "All throughout grade school, middle school, and last year, he harassed me mercilessly!"

"Love works in unexpected ways, honey," I said simply, going over to my seat.

"Don't fill my head with crap, Kori," Jade said, sitting down, then taking out a copy of _Seventeen_ and sticking her nose in it.

I grinned at her, knowing she'd be totally lost until second period, and just took out my writing journal, where I was working on my last chapter of my newest _X-Men _fanfiction. I'd already written it, and now I just needed to edit it, type it, post it online, then my story would be finished.

Since I didn't have any homework or tests to study for, I wrote steadily until second period, completely ignoring the world around me; I was way too lost in my story. Thankfully, Roy didn't acknowledge us at all, so that was a big plus, because the last thing I needed was for Richard to think I was harassing him.

When the second period bell rang, people practically ran out of Study Hall, taking Jade with them. The fact that I wasn't able to say bye to her made me a little sad, but I just kept walking on to Chemistry – until I realized I had no idea where I was going.

During my first and second days, someone had shown me exactly where to go, and, while that was helpful, it hadn't really let me learn the school's layout on my own, and I didn't want to mindlessly follow someone around until the end of the year.

Suddenly, as I was walking, I bumped into an athletic-looking African-American girl, causing the both of us to fall straight on our butts.

"Ow," we both moaned, rubbing our foreheads.

"Here, let me help you up," the girl said, standing up first then giving me her hand.

"Thanks very much," I said gratefully, taking her hand then standing up.

"I'm Karen Beecher, by the way," she said and held out her hand, but I didn't shake it immediately.

Instead, I stared at her outfit. After years of listening of Cammie the Fashion Guru, I knew, without a doubt, that, unless you were a mental patient or a celeb like Lindsay Lohan or Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton, were you supposed to pair a knee-length bright orange floral housedress with a large white belt that cinched together at the waist, complete with a Chanel handbag and pointy red ankle boots, but this girl was able to totally pull it off no problem. Oh, well. At least her clothes weren't so tight breathing was a virtual impossibility or so small that she was practically naked.

Her hair was another story. It was tight, curly, and black, parted in the middle, pulled up into two round, gathered distinct bunches on either side of her head, and I wondered did it take her two hours to style it.

"Karina Anders but you can call me Kori," I finally said as I shook it

"Are you lost?" she asked gently.

"Actually, I am," I said, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing.

Karen laughed. "Don't worry, Kori. You'll catch up soon enough," she said. "I got all the time here, and I still do, in fact. Anyway, what's your first class?"

"Chemistry, room 227," I said, showing her my schedule.

Karen looked it over, then brightened. "Hey, you have lunch with me! Maybe we can sit together!"

"I'd like that," I said, laughing.

"Anyway," Karen said, "I've got Chemistry with you, so I'll take you there." She grabbed my hand and we practically sped off toward Chemistry, arriving just as Light was starting to take roll.

"Whoa, sweetie, what's the rush?" I asked as we sat down at our little table. Karen had decided that we were going to be buddies, so we sat together.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, taking out her notebook, "but it's just that Light locks the door when his class begins, and, if you're late, you've got to come back on Saturday to make up the missed class, and, believe me, I'd much rather spend my weekend with my friends."

"Who _does _that?" I asked incredulously as more students started to sprint in from whatever subject they had.

"I know," Karen said frankly, shaking her head sadly. "But on a more positive note, I _love _your outfit."

"Thanks," I said brightly. Today, I was wearing a lightweight blue sweater, since it was a bit chillier, a blue and white cami, a gray cami under that, a cute gray skirt, and matching flats. I thought it was a cute outfit, if I did say so myself.

Just then, Light finished taking attendance and stood up and locked the door just as three people were desperately sprinting down the hall. I heard their faces collide with the door, their thirty-second long protests, and finally their quiet crying. Poor dudes or girls.

"Right, then, everyone," Light said briskly. Taking a piece of chalk, he wrote _Dr. Light_ on the board, then set it back on the ledge. "That's Doctor. Not Mr. and most certainly not Dr. L, L-Dawg, or, L-Man." He shot direct looks at several students.

Wow, what an uptight weirdo. From now on, I'd to make sure I was never late, because I'd virtually be signing my own death certificate and that was _not_ something I wanted to do.

But that didn't matter. Now, it was time to pay attention. I sat up straight, took my red notebook out, and did just that throughout the entire class period.

When class was over, Light unlocked the door, and, because the three people outside had fallen asleep, they spilled into the classroom and sprawled out onto the floor, clearly embarrassed.

The first two guys were Wally and Gar, but I didn't recognize the third one, even though he was a dead ringer for Jamie Lynn Spears's dorky friend Chase on _Zoey 101_.

As people started to leave, Karen and I gave each other a hug goodbye, promising to sit with her at lunch.

My next class was French, room 130, which was easy enough to find.

As I stepped inside the classroom, the first things I noticed were the names _Madame Delacroix_, and, beneath that in parentheses, _Madame Rouge_ in elegant cursive on the board and one empty seat, conveniently located in the front, next to another redheaded girl that looked like a kindred spirit, so I decided to try my luck.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" I asked politely, tapping her on the shoulder then gesturing to the chair.

The girl whipped back around. "Of course not," she said warmly. "Come on, sit down."

"Thanks," I said gratefully, setting my stuff down, then plopping my butt into the chair. "What's your name?"

"Babs," she said, and held out her hand.

"Karina Anders," I said as I shook it. "Well, actually, my nickname is Kori and practically nobody _ever_ calls me Karina, so just call me Kori."

Babs laughed. "Alright, then, Kori," she said. "So, where're you from?"

"Tamaran," I said. "It's this picturesque little country in the South Pacific. The weather's warm and sunny, but the Senendrins, the country's top mountain range, are like a fairytale in the winter, so a lot of people go there during that time."

"I've heard of it and seen pictures online," Babs said enviously, "but I've never gone there. Tell me more about it, especially the Senendrins. I love the mountains."

"Well…" I trailed off. I'd try to accurately describe them for both our sakes, but even the fanciest words could completely capture the beauty of the Senendrins. If anything, nothing in the world could _ever _truly capture their complete beauty, not even seeing it in person. If was as if humans could never truly grasp their complete beauty, and God was the only being on Earth who could do that.

"Alright," I said finally. "Light dances off the waters of the long, deep turquoise lakes. Thick, old, alien trees sway in the wind like ocean waves as wind rustles through their leaves. Craggy, snow-topped mountains stand there silently like rock giants that only come to life when put under a spell. Millions of flocks of birds in every color imaginable spring from the trees at any given moment. Rivers wind through the eroded valleys like big, blue snakes, emptying out into the world's oceans. Canyons and cliffs jut forward from steep slopes or hide behind green vegetation, their rocks proudly displaying reds, grays, browns, and earthy yellows. The world's just timeless there, and I feel as if I step into another world."

"Wow, Kori," Babs said admiringly, wiping away a little tear that sprang to her eye. "That was beautiful."

"I was just…speaking from the heart," I said truthfully, handing Babs a tissue. "But I cried the first time I saw the Senendrins, too."

"How old were you?" Babs asked curiously.

"Six," I said. "The first time I went, the whole thing was so beautiful it ripped my heart out of my chest and still does to this day. Tears sprang to my eyes at the sight of it. The mountains were so tall that they seemed to touch Heaven and I thought I would be able to meet Jesus and could come back alive if I climbed the mountain.

"Needless to say, I got lost and stayed that way for what was probably the scariest hour of my life back then. My parents had to call the police to find me; I'd gotten that lost."

"Wow," Babs breathed. "I bet that was scary." She opened her mouth to say something else, but just then an elegant woman strode into room, and everyone got quiet.

"I'm so sorry, everyone," she said in an elegant French accent, "but traffic was _atroce_." Having studied French since forever, I knew that _atroce_ was the French word for atrocious.

In that measly second, I knew she was going to be my favorite teacher. Her voice was musical and soft, and something about her accent told me she was legitimately from Paris. Also, there was something so ladylike and elegant about her. Her chin-length, stick-straight black hair was perfectly done, she was wearing a simple but elegant suit navy blue that complimented her blue eyes, and she was wearing a tasteful red lipstick that contrasted nicely against her lightly tan skin.

"Now that we are here," she continued, "we may begin."

"Hey," I whispered to Babs, "why do they call her Madame Rouge?"

"Oh, because _rouge _is French for red and she wears the red lipstick and says that being called Madame Delacroix makes her sound too old," she whispered back.

That was nice, I thought. I was glad the teacher was so relaxed and easygoing, instead of an uptight moron like Light.

"Alright, everyone," Madame Rouge said, walking up and down aisles and distributing textbooks and workbooks. "You will use these textbooks all year and I expect them to be in good condition by the end of the year."

As I was putting my books into my backpack, I felt so relieved. Apparently, the last teacher had been so stressed out that she'd had a nervous breakdown in front of the whole class, and I'd heard how choosy the people who picked the teachers could be, and if it'd taken them a whole summer to find a Parisian French teacher, so be it, because I was getting sick of watching dumb videos about killer whales that the cynical Biology teacher, Marc Fischer, made us watch.

When I turned my attention back to Madame Rouge's desk, I saw that she was holding a thick pile of papers and was slapping one down on each desk.

"Don't be alarmed, _ma petites_," she said soothingly once she saw some people were looking at her like they were going to be eaten alive. "This test will not be graded. It is only to see how much knowledge you have retained."

Once she'd given me my quiz, I finished it in no time flat, practically having been able to speak French since before I could speak English.

"Very good, Miss Anders," Rouge said as she was looking over my paper once I'd given it to her.

Five minutes later, everyone was done and she told us we could talk quietly or read as she was checking the papers and that took until the end of class, so I just sat back with my copy of _The Fault in Our Stars_.

Fortunately, the bell rang before I got to the tear-jerking part which was a relief because I didn't want anyone to see me burst into sobs.

Just as I was getting up to leave, Babs grabbed my arm.

"So," she asked, "we still on for lunch?"

"Totally," I said. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I've gotta go to World History."

"Right, sorry," Babs said, letting go. "As for me, it's Gym. Ugh."

"Bye, Babs!" I called over my shoulder, blowing her a kiss goodbye.

"Bye, Kori!" she called to me, doing the same as she walked toward the gym.

With that done, I sped off toward room 136. The teacher, Ms. Prince, reminded me of the Amazons of the Greek myths, because, at six feet tall without heels, she was the tallest and most intimidating woman I'd ever met, and, having been Bruce's closest girlfriend before Selina, was bound to hate me, one way or another.

She stood by the door, nodding a polite greeting at each student who entered. From what I'd heard, she was strict and held in great respect – and a tiny amount of fear – by students and faculty alike, but I admired her, since she was a strong woman, just like I always wanted to be.

"Today," she practically bellowed once she'd finished taking roll, "we will finish watching the remainder of the video about the Romanov family of Russia." Her sharp seawater blue eyes scanned the room for troublemakers, and having found none, turned off the lights, and hit the _play_ button. A few delicate strands of raven hair fell from her neat bun, and she quickly brushed them back in place.

The chunk of the video we hadn't been able to watch was about thirty minutes and by the time it was finished, it was lunchtime, so I gladly strode off toward my locker and get to my lunch. I'd hoped to talk to the tiny black-haired girl with chin-length hair next to me while the video played, since I'd already learned that stuff at my old school, but she'd just stuck her nose in _The Hound of the Baskervilles_, leaving me to my own devices.

Once class was over and Jade, Artemis, and I had gotten our lunches, since we both had the same lunch, we walked off toward the cafeteria, with Jade ranting all the while.

"Unbelievable!" she ranted. "Roy is in _every single one of my classes_! I don't know what I did to deserve so much suffering!" She buried her face into Artemis's shoulder and wailed.

Meanwhile, I groaned. Jade had last period Gym with me, and while the fact that I could her through this was nice, I didn't want to suffer, either. Roy was a huge playboy, so there was no way I could ignore him.

At last we reached the cafeteria. The smell of pizza, hot dogs, whatever was on the menu and the sound of people talking overwhelmed me, so I'd to clutch onto Artemis for balance.

The three of us walked in together, unsure of where to go. During the first two days, Jade and I'd eaten together alone so this was all new. In all the frenzy, she hadn't remembered Artemis, so she'd eaten alone, too.

Suddenly, I noticed Karen waving to me.

"Yoo hoo! Kori!" she called. "Come sit here with us!"

I walked over to her table and noticed her sitting with Babs and the girl from my World History class.

"Thanks so much, Kar," I said gratefully. "I hope you don't mind if I brought Jade and Artemis with me."

"Not at all," Karen said. "The more the merrier!"

"And now," Babs said, "let me introduce you to our posse. Rachel here is the daughter of Tristan Roth, one of Jump's top doctors, and Angela Roth, sexy mystery author extraordinaire. As for Karen over here, she is the goddaughter of Mari McCabe."

Tea splurted out my nose. Oh. My. God. It was only my fifth day in America and I'd already met the goddaughter of one of the most famous models in the world! Talk about major awesomeness!

"Ah, it's nothing," Rachel and Karen said modestly in unison.

"What about you?" Artemis asked suddenly. "What's your story?"

"Other than the fact that I'm the daughter of a very wealthy Tamaranean man, nothing really," I said.

"Well, what're your parents' names?" Rachel asked.

"Lou-Anne," I said, "and Marius –"

"Oh, my God!" Artemis interrupted me. "Your father's, like, the Donald Trump of Tamaran and you didn't tell us?!"

"Sorry," I mumbled under my breath.

"Sorry, sorry, don't sorry me," she muttered bitterly.

"Well, what about you Jade?" Babs asked curiously.

"My grandpa was a Vietnamese millionaire and my mom was born there, but they moved here due to the war. He was lucky to keep a quarter of his wealth, since most of his assets were stolen by the government, so my mom was well-brought up," Jade said. "When she was twenty-two, she married my dad, who was similarly well-brought up, and had me the year after that and Artemis the year after that until they divorced two years ago." She said the part about the divorce with surprising bitterness, so I knew not to push.

"Well, as for me," Babs said, trying to lighten the mood, "I'm police commissioner Jim Gordon's daughter."

"That's cool," I said. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," she said. "Over the summer, I dated Dick, but I broke up with him once I found out he cheated on me. I figured he'd have enough decency to be faithful, but he didn't, so I called things off."

"Wow, that's hurtful," I said.

"Trust me, he's bad news," Babs said, looking over to where he was sitting with a bunch of dudes. "I don't want you to suffer like I did."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Karen said, dabbing at her pretty hazel eyes. "But I agree with Babs. Dick can be a really bad influence when he wants to be. He turned sixteen on September first, and I heard he drank four beers in a row."

"_Four_ beers in a row?" Artemis repeated incredulously. "I find that a little hard to believe."

"Trust me, what I'm saying is all true," Karen said. "Anyway, I'm worried that he'll lead my boyfriend Vic to hell if they keep hanging together."

Then, as if on cue, a tall, muscular African-American guy with gray eyes and a shaved head who must've been Vic walked up behind Karen and placed his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?" he asked teasingly.

"Sparky!" Karen exclaimed joyfully, jumping into his arms and being spun around.

"Who's this?" Vic asked once he'd put Karen down.

"Vic, this is my new friend, Kori," Karen said, introducing me.

"It's nice to meet you, Kori," Vic said as he shook my hand.

"Likewise," I said back.

"Well, I gotta go back to the boys," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of his guy table.

"Fine. Go," Karen said, making little motions with her hands.

"Thanks, babe." Vic pressed a kiss to her temple then walked back to his table.

"You guys are cute together," Rachel said, looking up from her copy of _Insurgent_.

"I know," Karen said smugly, clearly pleased that she had a boyfriend while her friends didn't, but even she flinched a little, as she'd probably forgotten that Rachel was there since she was so quiet.

Just then, the Garfield guy I saw at the theatre walked over to us. Rachel, sensing another human's presence looked up, and her dark brown eyes got so big and wide I was scared they were going to get too big for her head and fall out, rolling all the way out of the cafeteria.

"What do you want, Logan?" she asked tersely, angry red blotches of color appearing on her usually pale cheeks.

"Well," Garfield said innocently, "I was wondering if we were still on for that date."

"No!" Rachel practically exploded, starting to shake with anger in her seat. She slammed her book down on the table and stood up, and I was surprised by how tiny she was.

At four foot seven, she was even smaller than Damian, who was four foot ten. She tried to look intimidating, but it was kind of hard since she needed to wear five inch heels just to clear five feet and Garfield, at five foot nine, towered over her immensely.

"No," she repeated in a much calmer voice. "I don't want to go out on a date with you and never will, even if my life depended on it."

Garfield didn't look sad by her rejection, but he appeared to have gotten the message, because he backed away.

"Come on, Rae-Rae, you know you love me!" he exclaimed as he jogged back to his table.

"Finally," Rachel muttered crossly, rubbing her temples. "I hate that horrible bastard."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because," Rachel snapped darkly, "last year, at a school dance, he told everyone that he had a huge crush on me and –"

_Clang! Clang! Clang!_

The lunch bell rang, interrupting her. Personally, I was relieved, since she sounded so angry, and I did _not_ need any more negative energy in my life.

As I walked out of the lunchroom and off toward my locker, I heard my phone vibrate in my backpack. I took it out. The screen flashed with a little text from Babs that read, _what do u hav 4 8__th __per.?_

_Y? _I texted back.

_Jade wants 2 know_, came the reply. _4 support reasons._

_If u MUST know i got choir, yay_, _so i can help her_, I texted.

_thats good,_ Babs texted back._GTG! KISSES!_

_KISSES! _I texted back, then shut off my phone, ending our conversation.

After I got the things I need for my Advanced English class, I started off toward room 266. I'd been told that the teacher, Mr. Mod, was a really peppy from Yorkshire, England, that spoke with a Cockney accent and called his students his little "duckies."

As I walked into the room, I noticed that Richard was there, too. Oh, no. That'd mean drama and I did not want anymore drama. Since when was he in Advanced English? As I said, his only life source was harassing innocent people.

And, as fate would have, the only seat left was the one next to him. Just great.

"Don't talk to me, don't look at me, and just pretend I don't exist," he said as I plunked down into my seat.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Mr. Mod walked in just then, setting a thick stack of papers down on the desk.

"Hullo, my duckies!" he cheerfully greeted us.

As far as classes went, I really liked English. Mr. Mod was fun and laid-back, and from what I'd heard, his projects were fun and the summer reading books he assigned were really good. This year, it was _The Three Musketeers_, _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, and _Romeo and Juliet_, which we were studying first.

I was hoping and praying that I would be Juliet, since I really wanted to read the balcony scene. And more importantly, who would Romeo be? I hoped it was someone cute, like this other boy named Xavier Redgrave. He had dirty blonde hair, these gorgeous amber eyes, a heart-stopping smirk, and a totally ripped swimmer's body. Needless to say, he really could give Richard a run for his money in the looks department, and he was really rich, too. Plus, he was nice to me and really smart, being the champion mathlete.

"Alright, then," Mod was saying as he was putting paper slips into two hats to pick the roles. He dug around in the girls' hat for a bit."Juliet will be played by…Karina Anders!"

"Yay!" I cheered, almost automatically.

Mod chuckled at my enthusiasm. "Well, that's quite refreshing to see! These days, practically no youngster finds joy in the art of theatre."

"Who'll play Romeo? Who'll play Romeo?" I demanded in a breathless, almost frantic, voice. _Please let it be Xavier! Please let it Xavier!_

"Ah, now, let's see," Mod said, digging around in the boys' hat.

All the while, I wasn't sweating – it was nothing short of a miracle – but I felt cold and clammy all over, especially in places that I never thought _could _feel cold and clammy.

"Aha!" Mod finally exclaimed triumphantly, having finally pulled out a delicate slip of paper. "The role of Romeo will be played by…Richard Grayson."

A/N: Yay! Another cliffie! Don't you just LOVE all the drama I cook up? Well, I sure do! I'm not gonna tell you what happens in the next chapter; you'll have to wait and see. Anyway, I've introduced Babs, Rachel, Karen, Gar, Vic, Mari McCabe (Vixen) and Kori's parents, Marius and Lou-Anne. Those will be my A.U. names for Myand'r and Luand'r. They're good names, don't you think? As for Mari McCabe being Karen's godmother, I just thought it was cool to make Karen her goddaughter. In my fic, Rachel will have a good relationship with her father because I'm just _so sick_ of them having a horrible relationship that I thought I'd give her a break for once. Same goes with Kori and her sister. In fact, Kori and her sister and Rachel and her dad will _always_ have good relationships in my stories if I include them Babs will be a central character to my story (you'll see why). If any of you have any ideas for the Rob/Star relationship or think I'm going too fast, please leave me an idea in a P.M. or a review. For the sake of my fic being better, please leave some BB/Rae and Spitfire suggestions, too. I tolerate constructive criticism _only_. Freedom of speech doesn't mean you have the right to right to act like a jerk, and if I think your review is hurtful, I will ban it. I _do not_ ship Flinx and never will again, so don't badger me, because I will not add Jinx. I may or may not include Zatanna, depending on how I want my story to go. As always, please rate and review and spread love not hate!

Love,

The Diamond Princess


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_The role of Romeo will be played by Richard Grayson._

Those ten words just kept echoing in my head over and over in my head while a sickening feeling of numbness washed over me. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be _him_?

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Richard's hands were locked in fists so tight that I could've sworn they drew blood and all the color had drained from his face. In short, he looked positively livid.

On the other hand, I could feel a bubble of hysterical laughter forming in my chest and no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, it didn't work. If anything, it just seemed to get stronger every time, so I knew I had to get out of their fast before I started laughing like a criminally insane clown and people thought I'd gone crazy, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom.

Once I'd gotten Mod's permission to go, I practically flew to the bathroom. Once there, I locked myself in a stall and started to laugh.

I laughed until my thighs were practically quivering and the stabbing pain in my side was so sharp I couldn't breathe. Somewhere around the forty-second mark, my laughter had turned to tears, so I stumbled to one of sinks to wash my face and get a drink.

_Why, God? _I thought sadly as I splashed some water on my face then grabbed a paper towel to dry it.

After I was finished with reapplying my makeup, I did my best to walk calmly back to the classroom. It was just my luck that I got back when I did, because Mod was just about ready to send another girl after me.

After I sat back down again, I just turned my face away from Richard, put it on the desk and tried to focus on the wall, but a sharp noise startled me and caused me to look up.

It was Mod, slapping down copies of _Romeo and Juliet _on each desk. The cover was simple, with just the title of the play and a single red rose.

"Alright, everyone," he said when he was finished. "I expect you to practice at home, read well, and, if possible, memorize it and do it without the book. Indeed, one has not lived until they have performed _Romeo and Juliet_." I think he was about to say something more, but the bell rang just then, ending his speech. Personally, I agreed with him all the way. When I'd first read for Juliet two years ago, I felt something inside me come…_alive_, and I knew I would never forget that sensation.

Somehow, I made it through the rest of the day. After I got to my Advanced Calculus class in Room 205, I finally met the girl I'd encountered at the theatre because she invited me to sit with her. As it turned out, her name was Antonia Monetti, nicknamed Toni, and was half-New Zealander, as her parents weren't married when she'd been born, so she'd been taken to New Zealand as soon as she was old enough to travel and had been raised there by her mother until two years ago, when she'd come to live with her father, who, as it turned out, was a New Jersey politician.

Like Artemis, she was fourteen and a freshman, but that was because she'd skipped kindergarten, but what I loved most about her was her unique personality. Yes, even though she looked a little goth – even though she wore black a lot, it didn't look goth in the slightest and she didn't wear anything goth; it was her pale skin, dark hair, and unique smoky eye makeup look paired with maroon lipstick – she just seemed like a cool, calm, and collected person who genuinely cared about others.

"You know," I said once I'd sat down, "when I first saw you, I thought you were one of those goths that spent all their free time reading depressing novels and listening to songs about how much their lives and the world suck."

Toni laughed. "Yeah, that's how most people see me," she said. "I hate it, but I've learned to accept. This is me, and I'm not changing who I am just because someone ignorant assumes that I don't go out very often because I'm a recluse goth who spends all her free time thinking about death. Frankly, I don't even see why people waste so much time thinking about death when they can enjoy life."

"Totally," I said, nodding.

Just then, the teacher entered.

"Hello, class, my name is Mr. Curry," he said, writing his name on the board. Like most of the teachers, he'd given us the textbooks and workbooks on the first day.

He told us to open up to chapter one and take out our notebooks. Then he started blabbing in a language that sounded like English yet wasn't English. I wasn't listening, but I was copying notes.

Because I'd learned the very first lesson in the book last year on Tamaran, I just randomly doodled flowers on the inside of the front and back covers, occasionally copying notes.

Mercifully, the class ended quickly, since school let out at two o'clock, which let me go to my first-favorite class: Choir.

After I got to Room 222, I spotted Jade sitting and patting the seat next to her, so I just automatically sat down.

"Hey, chica," she said brightly. "How's life?"

"Okay, I guess," I said.

"Okay, you guess?" she asked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," I said. I told her about the _Romeo and Juliet_ situation in English class and by the time I was done, she was almost in laughter tears.

"Oh, God!" she gasped through giggles. "Poor you!"

"Jade!" I exclaimed, gently whacking her on the head with my hand.

"Sorry," she said after she calmed down. "It just that –" She was interrupted by the sound of the teacher coming in.

"Sorry I'm late everyone!" she exclaimed with a hiccup. "I've been – hic – busy!"

_Poor woman_, I thought sympathetically, but, at the same time, I wondered why she was so busy, since she was looking so frazzled when she usually looked so pulled together. Her black cashmere sweater was on backward, her fly was down, her long, blonde hair was a total mess, and she was wearing two different-colored flats – a black one and a brown one.

She started passing out song sheets and I unenthusiastically took one. For the first time in my life, I felt no joy in singing in choir. I was so bored I might've as well been dead.

The class just passed in a blur of musical notes and lyrics. I became so lost in my thoughts that the teacher had to say my name three times before I responded.

"Miss Anders!" she snapped irritably. "Are you paying attention?"

"Yes," I said without thinking.

"Then did what I just say?" she asked.

"You asked if I was paying attention," I said shrewdly, and instantly regretted it. I was _so_ going to get it now.

But instead, the teacher just rolled her eyes, as if she decided it wasn't worth it to say, "Hallway. Now."

I breathed a sigh of relief. With that, class resumed and everyone went back to singing, while I became lost in my thoughts yet again.

Thankfully, class ended a merciful ten minutes later, leaving me with only one more class: Gym. Finally. At least now I could take out my frustrations.

"Come on, Kor," Jade said, causing me to snap out of my daydreams. "It's time to go to gym class." She stood up and held out her hand.

"Yeah, come on, let's go," I said, taking her hand.

"Sorry I laughed at you back there," Jade said as we walked.

"It's okay," I said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

Once we'd gotten our gym clothes, we walked off toward Gym 1, where we'd spend the next thirty minutes of our lives.

"Don't forget the sports bra this time!" I called after Jade once we were in the changing room. She'd forgotten the sports bra on Friday and had had to sit out, since she was self-conscious about her breasts.

Five minutes later, I came out of the changing room wearing hot pink sweatpants, matching Adidas sneakers, and a light white tank top.

"Jade! Come on!" I yelled, willing her to hurry up.

"Calm down, Anders!" she yelled back. "I'm coming!"

"Finally," I breathed once she'd come out. She was wearing the_ Daddy's Girl_ shirt she'd worn on the first day with coral mesh shorts and silver sneakers that matched the lettering on the shirt.

"Yeah, yeah, calm your tits, Anders," she said as she pulled her hair back into a messy bun. She held out her hand.

"Why do you take so long to get ready?" I asked as I handed her my scrunchie and she started doing my hair.

"Because I want to look good," she said as she finished doing my hair.

"Well, we'll miss Gym class," I said as Jade stepped back to admire her work. "Shall we go, m'lady?"

Jade rolled her eyes playfully and stuck out her tongue at me. "You know," she said, "I love you to death and all that jazz but you're an annoying pain in the ass sometimes."

"I know," I said as we took our seats on the gym floor next to each other. Most of the other people were already there, so that was good.

The door creaked open and the teacher walked in.

But it wasn't Mrs. Clifford.

Instead, it was a rail-thin, wrinkly, little, old lady that was wearing a brown velour tracksuit and Ray Ban sunglasses and holding a yellow megaphone. Despite the fact that she should've been severely hunched over from massive bone loss, she had shockingly good posture.

"Just our luck to get a Centrum Silver-addicted drill sergeant for a Gym teacher," Jade groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"Yeah, I know," I said, rubbing her back soothingly. "What's Centrum Silver?"

"I'll explain later," Jade mumbled.

"LISTEN UP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the old lady bellowed into her megaphone. "MY NAME IS GRAMS! NOT MS. NOT MISS GRAMS, JUST GRAMS!"

"Oh, how nice," I muttered to myself. "Grams. That's a perfect name."

"NOW," the old lady – Grams – bellowed again, "I'LL TAKE ATTENDENCE AND THEN WE'LL DO THREE LAPS, TWENTY JUMPING JACKS AND TWENTY PUSH-UPS! AFTER THAT, WE'LL PLAY A NICE, CLEAN GAME OF SOCCER!"

"Oh, goody, soccer!" Jade exclaimed happily.

"You like soccer?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "When I was little, I was on a soccer team."

"That's cool," I said. "On Tamaran, we call it football."

"Nice," Jade said.

"AND NOW FOR ATTENDENCE!" Grams bellowed for the third time. "KARINA ANDERS!"

"Here!" I exclaimed automatically.

"JADE NGUYEN!" she called out.

"Here!" Jade exclaimed.

And so it went. She called out name after name, and sometimes, when she didn't get an immediate response, she called out the name again, but so loudly that some of us had to cover our ears. Things went fine until she read the last name on her list.

"ROY HARPER!" she called out. When she didn't get an answer, she tried again. "ROY HARPER!"

Then, as if on cue, the Gym door creaked open again and Roy walked in like he owned the place, smirking, and I swear half a dozen girls fainted. His glasses were off, so I could see that his eyes were a sparkly green color.

"Alright, alright, I'm here," he said. I thought about starting to pray he didn't notice us, but something – maybe my intuition – told me it was hopeless, so I just avoided eye contact with him.

Spotting Jade, he made a direct beeline toward us like on the second day of school. I half-expected Jade to run away, but she held her ground.

"Hello, gorgeous," Roy cooed, sitting down next to her, and if looks could kill, his funeral would've been the next morning.

"The first step to having a girlfriend, my young Padawan, is using the head on your shoulders instead of the head in your pants, as you so often do," Jade said. "And second, don't you have a boyfriend to hang out with?"

Roy's face flushed red then purple with anger. He sputtered mindlessly, but no words came out.

"Aw, look at that," Jade said, as if she was talking about a cute baby. "He's trying to say his first words."

Just then, Grams decided to try her luck with Roy Harper again.

"ROY HARPER!" she called, causing me to cover my ears.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm here!" he yelled loudly, apparently having regained the ability to talk.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER WHEN I CALLED ON YOU THE FIRST TIME?!" Grams boomed.

"I did answer," he said, "but you didn't hear."

Grams looked appeased by his answer. "AH, WELL, MUST BE MY ALZHEIMER'S!"

"Yeah, that's it," Roy said.

"ALRIGHT, THEN!" Grams boomed. "GET INTO A LINE!"

All of us stood up and got into a line starting at the red line of tape that was supposed to be both the start and finish line.

Grams blew her whistle. "START!"

I didn't need any more incentives. With a powerful kick of my legs, I was off, enjoying the feel of the nice, cold air conditioning on the face. Unlike most girls, I didn't mind running until my coconut-scented deodorant could barely handle the pressure. In fact, I loved running, because it was always made me feel as if I was flying, but it wasn't my true passion. Dance was.

All of a sudden, "Do It Like A Dude" started to play, giving me a burst of energy which enabled me to run a little faster. I looked behind me and saw Jade quickly catching up to me, causing me to smile.

Jade was a good runner, but she couldn't handle anything more than four laps, which, pretty soon, meant she'd collapse.

I put on a burst of speed and was pretty soon finished with my laps, since I was the fastest person in class.

After everyone was finished with their laps, we started the twenty jumping jacks, which only took thirty seconds.

When that was done, Grams told three students to bring out two goals and two bags of pinneys. Then she divided us all into teams of eleven, since there were exactly twenty-two of us. The game was to be boys against girls, with the girls being the red team and the boys being the yellow team.

"ALRIGHT, NOW!" Grams boomed. "THERE IS TO BE _NO_ CHEATING? UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes, ma'am," we all said.

"SPEAK UP!" Grams boomed again. "I'M DEAF IN ONE EAR!"

A sick feeling crept into my stomach. They let a _partially deaf_ woman teach a tenth-grade gym class?!

Grams blew her whistle, and the game began.

People moved this way and that, trying to score a point for their team. I knew practically nothing about football – I mean soccer – but I just tried my best to score a goal.

About twenty-five minutes later, near the end of class, while "Love You Like A Love Song" played and the girls were in the lead with twenty-two points with the guys having eleven points, the door creaked open and Artemis walked in with a piece of paper, which she gave to Grams. Almost everyone turned their heads to look at them, pretty much accepting the fact that the girls had won the game.

Then, suddenly, while Grams was scribbling something, Artemis spotted Roy and, before anyone could even find the breath to say something, her eyes flared with hatred and, taking a deep breath, kicked a spare ball as hard she could as hard as she could at him, then bolted out of the room with a speed the fastest person that ever existed would envy, but not before yelling, "Jeremy Applegate did it!" and pointing to the dorky boy who was a dead ringer for Chase.

Grams' head snapped up so fast that for a second I thought her neck would permanently break. Then her eyes darted toward Roy, who was curled up on the ground, crying and holding his balls and looking like a jumbo shrimp with a tuft of red hair. Apparently, the ball had hit the sides of the goal and ricocheted into his balls.

The bubble of hysterical laughter exploded in my chest again and I made no effort to squash it, so I just let myself double over with laughter, while Jade did the same.

"NGUYEN! ANDERS! SHUT UP!" Grams practically screeched, her eyes shooting daggers at us. "ONE OF YOU CARRY HARPER TO THE NURSE! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"I'll do it," Jade volunteered, probably to rub the whole thing in his face.

"FINE!" Grams practically shrieked again. "JUST GO!"

Jade walked over to Roy and helped him up, then they walked out of the gym and up to the nurse.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and people started to practically run out the gym, but the sound of Grams' megaphone crackling to life again stopped them dead in their tracks.

"TOMORROW," she bellowed like usual, "I WANT TO SEE HUSTLE! WHEN I SAY HUSTLE I MEAN _HUSTLE_! YOU ARE DISMISSED!"

After that little announcement, people practically flew out the gym, and maybe some of them were desperately hoping they could change their schedules before the day was over.

After I'd gotten my stuff, showered, changed, and went back to my locker to get my books, I looked around for Artemis so I could congratulate her, but I didn't see her anywhere, so I just kept packing my stuff.

All of sudden, as I was putting my Chemistry things in my backpack, I heard someone behind me yell, "Boo!" and they gripped my shoulders, causing me to almost jump out of my skin.

"Jesus, Kori, chill," Jade said once I'd turned around.

"Don't _ever_ do that to me again," I gasped, clutching at my heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Okay, I won't," Jade giggled. "Anyway, I just talked to Bruce and he said you could come to my house, but you've got to be back by six."

I nodded. "That's good."

"Anyway," Jade said, filling her own backpack with stuff, "you'll love my mom. She's super-nice."

"I'm baack!" came a voice all of a sudden, causing Jade to whip back around.

"Artemis!" she squealed, picking her up then spinning her around and pressing a big kiss to her forehead. "You were brilliant back there! Brilliant!"

"Yeah, I know," she said once Jade had put her down. "Now let's go. Mom's waiting!"

I wasn't kidding when I say they practically dragged me to the door and shoved me into the passenger's seat of a sleek, white convertible.

After Jade and Artemis's mom sped down Jump's streets like a racetrack, we finally pulled up to a picturesque little house that looked like something you only see in a home remodeling magazine or channel.

"Welcome to my humble abode," she said once she'd opened the door. The inside was even prettier than the outside. Every single inch was decorated in a soft, girlish style, and the air even smelled softly of lilacs. I was in love.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we've been properly introduced," she said, extending her hand toward me. "I'm Paula Crock."

"Pleasure to meet you, Paula," I said. "I'm Karina Anders, but you can call me Kori." As I shook her hand, I could see where Jade and Artemis got their good looks from. Paula had glossy black hair like Jade that fell to the nape of her neck with neat bangs, gray eyes and olive skin like both her daughters, pronounced lips and cheekbones, and didn't look a day over forty.

"Do you girls want to eat something?" she asked.

"No, thanks, Mom," Artemis said. "We're good. We're just going to go upstairs and do our homework." With that being said, they practically dragged me up the stairs – again- before stopping in front of a white door that read _Artemis's Room_.

"This is my room," she said. The room was medium-sized, but Artemis's big bed dominated some of it. It had a hot pink comforter with pink, orange, and silver pillows. There was also a matching fuzzy round chair and posters of One Direction and cute baby animals. There were two nightstands on either side. One had a hot pink lava lamp and the other had an alarm clock.

"You've got a really nice room, Artemis," I said as I explored her walk-in closet. Once I'd found out that she had one, I'd practically freaked out, since I kind of had a fetish for walk-in closets.

"Thanks," she said. "The bathroom's over there by the way." She pointed to a door that was located near her bed.

I went back over to her bed and plopped down on it, glancing at the clock. It was two-thirty.

"We should start our homework, you know," I said.

"I know, but I don't wanna," Jade whined like a five-year-old.

"Come on," I said. "Do you want to go to bed at three A.M. or something?"

"I guess you're right," Jade huffed. She walked over to her backpack and took out her stuff while Artemis and I did the same.

All three of us worked in silence for a good two and half hours after that. Occasionally, Jade and Artemis, but it was pretty quiet other than that.

When we were finally done with our homework, I heard my stomach grumble. I hadn't eaten anything since twelve, so I was obviously hungry.

"Oh, God, I'm hungry," Artemis moaned, clutching at her stomach.

"Wait here," Jade said, going back downstairs to get something.

Five minutes later, she'd come back with three bowls of cereal. It was chocolaty, so the warm milk was turned into chocolate milk.

"Here you go," she said, handing us each our bowls. "Cocoa Pebbles cereal in warm milk."

I lifted up a big spoonful to my mouth. Delicious. The cereal was softened by the chocolaty milk, making it that much tastier.

"So…" I said as I ate. "That was some kick in Gym class."

Artemis shrugged modestly as she scraped her bowl clean. "I was just doing what any decent little sister would do."

"But you've gotta admit that was one hell of a kick," I said as I put my empty bowl on her desk, having finished scraping it clean. "My only regret was that I wasn't able to film it with my phone. I bet it would've gotten a million views on YouTube."

Jade laughed. "Yeah, but Ollie would probably throw our assess in prison if we did that."

"I bet he would," Artemis said, getting her laptop and going to a saved video of the French version of the song "When Will My Life Begin?" from _Tangled_. "Well ladies, shall we begin?"

As soon as we started singing, we couldn't stop. We sang – or, more accurately, tried to sing – every single _Tangled _song in every single language we could find and laughed ourselves to tears. I don't think I'd ever laughed so much in my life. To just laugh and feel carefree felt so refreshing.

"Tell me again about what you said to Roy," Artemis gasped, climbing up on the bed and wiping away some tears. The computer lay on the desk, forgotten.

"Okay," Jade said, taking deep breaths to calm down. "First, I was all like, 'Try using the head on your head, not the one in your pants,' and then, 'Don't you have a boyfriend or someone to hang out with?'"

"Oh, my God!" Artemis screamed with laughter "She said all that?!"

"Yes," I said. "She –" I was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Kori, Richard is here," Paula said, walking in then leaning on the doorway. "It's twenty to six and you should be going home."

I looked over at the clock and saw that she was right, but how had time passed so quickly? I guess I was having too much fun.

"Well, I have to go," I said. "Bye, you two."

"Bye, Kori," they both said a little sadly.

After I put on my shoes again and got my things, I let Paula walk me down the stairs to the door.

"Thank you for having me here, Paula," I said.

"My pleasure, Kori," she said. "You look like a good friend."

Richard honked outside, telling me to hurry up.

"Well, I should go," I said.

"You do that," Paula said, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead then opening the door.

It was a bit chilly as I walked outside, so I put on my jacket. I could see Richard holding the passenger door open for me.

"Thank you, sir," I said once I'd gotten in and closed the door behind me.

"You're welcome," he said in a bored tone as he got into the driver's seat and turned on the car.

"So…" he said as we started to drive. "About _Romeo and Juliet_."

"No comment," I said, turning on the radio. "We Can't Stop" filled the air, and the conversation's finished.

Driving back to Wayne Manor was a quiet event after that. Once we'd pulled up to the driveway, I could smell dinner cooking, which made my mouth water.

"Finally, you're back," some guy with golden-brown hair, hazel-green eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his nose, cheeks, and forehead who looked to be about Damian's age said once he'd opened the door.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Stuart," he said, holding out his hand. "Stuart Allan. Damian's friend."

"That's nice," I said as I shook it. "So, how are you two friends?" I went over to the couch and sat down.

"Well," he said, "we have Gym class on Mondays after lunch and today the teacher was a crazy old drill sergeant named Grams."

"_You_ got Grams, _too_?" I asked incredulously.

Stuart shrugged. "Go figure."

"So what happened?" I asked.

"Grams was all like, 'DAMIAN WAYNE! I SAID, DAMIAN WAYNE!' and I was like, 'I'm Damian Wayne!' and then she called out my name," Stuart said. "She said our voices sounded alike but I managed to get her to peg it off as her Alzheimer's."

"First off," I asked, "why were you impersonating Damian and secondly, why wasn't he there?"

"He was puking his guts out in the bathroom, poor guy," Stuart said.

"Dinner!" Alfred called out.

"Oh, good, I'm starving," I said, going over to sit down and pull out a chair for Stuart but he was going to sit next to Damian.

After everyone had sat down, said grace, and gotten their spaghetti and meatballs, the talk turned to Grams almost immediately but I concentrated more on eating than talking since I was starving.

"That sounds like hell," Jason was saying from his seat.

"It_ is_," Tim agreed from his seat.

"I hate her!" Helena blurted out suddenly.

"That not nice, Helena," Selina said.

"Whatever," Helena said, and we all went back to our food.

After we were finished with the spaghetti, Alfred brought out the tiramisu for dessert and Bruce started dishing out big pieces.

Pretty soon, dinner was done and it was time for Stuart to go. Meanwhile, I just plopped down on the couch.

I looked at the DVR clock. It was six forty-five.

"Wake me up in an hour," I mumbled, practically sinking into the cushions.

Practically five minutes later, I found myself being gently shaken awake by Tim.

"Kori, wake up," he whispered gently. "It's seven forty-five."

"It is?" I sat up and stretched to work the stiffness from my limbs.

"Yeah," he said, pointing at the DVR clock.

"Oh, it is," I said, realizing he was right. "Well, thanks, Tim." I gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said, and blushed a deep crimson, which made me smile.

"Aw, that's cute," I said, going over to get my backpack since I hadn't put it in my room yet.

"Welcome to Casa de Karina," I murmured to myself as I opened the door and threw my backpack down on the bed, with me following.

After I dug around a bit in my backpack, I finally found my copy of _Romeo and Juliet_. I figured that if the guy I hated the most was going to play my boyfriend/husband, then I would give him a show he would never forget.

"Alright," I said once I'd kicked off my shoes and opened to Juliet's first line. "Let's do this."

A/N: First off, sister power! Don't you just love Jade and Artemis? Secondly, I will give a free virtual hug (I give good hugs) to the first reader who figures out who the music teacher and Stuart Allan are and why I included them, but you have to leave your response in a review. Thirdly, I got the idea for Grams from the novel _In or Out _by Claudia Gabel, but that's it. The soccer scene with Artemis comes from my own mind, just in case you were wondering. Do you like Grams? Should I make her the permanent high school Gym teacher so that hilarity ensues? Tell me in my poll. Thirdly, Kori/X drama will be forthcoming in the next chapter and so will a Spitfire rivalry! Aren't you all as excited for this as I am? Lastly, please rate and review, if you have any ideas or suggestions, tell me in a review or P.M., and spread love not hate!

Love,

The Diamond Princess


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The rest of the week passed slowly after that. Grams didn't let up, which was nothing short of a nightmare, but, on the bright side, Mod, apparently, would give us two weeks to learn our lines and then we would act out the play. After that, we'd tackle it firsthand, studying the themes and things like that. Of course, my class would go much more in depth, which was something I was looking forward to.

On Friday, as I was packing up to go home, I noticed someone standing next to my locker, obviously waiting for my attention.

"Yes?" I asked shortly, slamming my locker shut.

"Hey, Kori." It was none other than Xavier and he looked positively stunning in his Green Day t-shirt with a heart-shaped grenade and faded jeans that sagged at the perfect angle of his hips, complete with sexy black sneakers.

"Hi, Xavier," I said with a flip of my hair and a friendly grin. Unlike most girls, I wasn't nervous around guys at all.

"So, you want to hang out after school today?" he asked casually. "To, you know, just get some ice cream."

I glanced down at my watch. 2:05. There was plenty of time to spare.

"I'd love to," I said. "Where are we going?"

"It's a secret," Xavier said mischievously.

I rolled my eyes and slapped his shoulder playfully. "God, you're so difficult!"

"I know," he said simply, taking my hand and leading me outside. I blushed, but thankfully, I was wearing blush, so he couldn't see it.

Once we were outside, he told me to cover my eyes so the car would be a surprise.

After about two minutes, I heard the low, rumbling purr of an engine and Xavier say, "Okay, Kori, you can open your eyes now."

I did and found myself staring at a gorgeous four-seater blue-black Corvette convertible. It looked so cool and so fancy that I was almost scared of sitting in it.

"Come on, Kori, you can sit in my car," Xavier said coaxingly, patting the passenger's seat with his hands.

I didn't need any more incentives. Once Xavier was sure I was safely buckled up, we sped off.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so I took off my favorite leather sandals, propped my feet up on the dashboard, took out my favorite pink nail polish, and got to work.

"Are we almost there?" I asked as I wiggled my freshly painted toes, having finished in record time.

"Not yet," Xavier said as he drove, "but we should be there in two minutes.

"Fair enough," I said as I busied myself with the stations and finding a song I'd like to sing along to, finally stumbling upon "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" by Fergie.

Pretty soon, I completely lost myself in the lyrics (I had a tendency to do that) and didn't even hear Xavier say my name the first time when we'd pulled up at the ice cream shop.

"Kori," he said again, probably for the third time.

Against my will, I blushed a deep crimson.

"Sorry, Xavier," I said apologetically. "I just have a tendency to get lost in the lyrics."

"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "We're here." He gestured to an overhead sign that read_ Swirly's Ice Cream and Sorbet Shoppe_.

"Yay!" I exclaimed, feeling anticipation bubble in my chest at the thought of so much ice cream. Let's go!"

I grabbed his hand and practically dragged him inside, eager to devour as much ice cream as I could.

"Hey, slow down," Xavier said. "What's the rush?"

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "It's just that I adore ice cream."

"Well," Xavier said, "go pick some out and I'll meet you at the checkout counter."

"What about you?" I asked. "What are you getting?"

"Chocolate chip mint," he said. "My favorite."

"Oh, that's cool," I said, already scanning the options to see if they had coffee. All the flavors were alphabetically sorted, so I immediately went over to the C section.

After scanning the section for five seconds, I finally found what I looking for – coffee ice cream!

"Okay, Xavier, I found my ice cream," I said, getting a cup and scooping a medium-sized portion into it, then walking over to him.

"What did you get?" he asked as he handed over the money (he'd offered to pay for the both of us; what a gentleman).

"Coffee," I said as I took my ice cream.

"Ew, gross," he said as he took his ice cream.

I scowled. "Not to me it isn't."

Xavier's face softened. "Sorry. You're right, that was mean," he said. "Hey, why don't we go sit outside?"

"I'd like that," I said. We walked out and sat down at a two-person table that the sun shone perfectly.

"So why's coffee ice cream your favorite?" Xavier asked, bringing a spoonful of his ice cream to his mouth.

"I've a coffee addiction, if you must know," I said, taking a big lick of my own ice cream. "However, my sister loathes the stuff, saying it's for wimps who don't have adrenaline."

"I gotta agree with her on that," Xavier said. "So…tell me about yourself."

"Well," I said, "I was born in Greece, raised on Tamaran, and came here as an exchange student. My family will move here next year. Oh, and I'm fifteen going on sixteen."

"When's your birthday?" Xavier asked.

"Christmas Eve," I said.

"Ah, a Christmas baby," he said wisely. "As for me, I turned eighteen on August nineteen this summer."

"If you turned eighteen this summer, why aren't you in college?" I asked.

"In first grade," Xavier said, "there was this dumb kid that I shared a name with. I'm not kidding, there was another kid named Xavier Redgrave in my first grade class. Anyway, I got good grades and his grades were so bad he was in danger of repeating and the jacked-up principal's assistant mixed up our end-of-year report cards. Long story short, I had to repeat first grade while he moved on to second grade."

"That stinks," I said sympathetically. "That really stinks."

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, you should've_ seen_ my parents. They were so mad I almost wasn't let to go outside for the whole summer. By the time the whole thing was straightened out, I _still _wasn't allowed to switch grades."

"That's horrible!" I exclaimed.

"Anyway, that's in the past," Xavier said. "Let's talk about the present."

We did just that for the next two hours, just sharing random facts and funny stories. At about four, Xavier said he wanted to go to the park.

"What park?" I asked. "There's no park around here for miles."

"Yeah, there is," he said, and pointed to Jump City Park, which was just across the street.

"Oh. There is," I said, mentally smacking myself.

"Come on, let's go," he said, taking my hand.

"What about our ice cream?" I asked, pointing to our cups. Having been neglected due to our conversation, our ice cream was just puddles of pale brown and green liquid.

"Get rid of them," Xavier said, throwing them out. "Now, come on. Let's go to the park." He held out his hand.

"Fine," I said, and took it.

Once we were at the park, I bolted toward the swing set immediately and got on.

"You want a push?" Xavier asked as he slowed down to a jog. He'd been running after me since I'd taken a running start myself.

"Yes, please," I said politely.

Within minutes, I found myself flying higher than I'd ever dared to fly as rapture overtook me.

After about five minutes, I had to stop and sit down so I could fight the urge to throw up my ice cream.

"You okay?" Xavier asked, sitting down next me and rubbing my back soothingly.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, clutching my stomach and willing the world to stop spinning. After taking a couple of deep breaths, the world had stopped spinning and I felt like I could stand up again.

"Do you like to dance?" I asked as I stood up. "You know –" I held out my arms and did a complicated step as I hummed a Latin beat.

Xavier laughed. "A little."

"Well, come on, then," I said, trying to make my tone coaxing, cajoling, like a cat luring a bird out of a tree.

"Fine, then, you win," Xavier said in a giving-up kind of voice.

We got into the proper ballroom dancing position as Xavier asked, "What now?"

"Now, monsieur," I said, "we do the fake waltz."

Luckily, both of us knew how to dance the fake waltz and I just started singing a bunch of random songs I'd memorized in my spare time while we danced.

I could've stayed that way forever, but Xavier broke me out of my reverie when he said, "I really like you, Kori," and, without any warning, pressed his bottom lip ever so gently to my top lip.

I felt like I was going to float away, but, fortunately, Xavier had a strong yet gentle grip on me, so I didn't have to worry about it.

We stayed like that for a few seconds – maybe ten – when I broke our kiss.

"Wow," I said in an unusually high-pitched voice. "You're a really good kisser."

"Thank you," he said modestly.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and glanced at my watch, feeling like a weight was settling into my gut when it read 6:35.

"Oh, crap," I mumbled. "I'm late."

"Late for what?" Xavier asked.

"Dinner," I said. "I lost track of time and now I'm late for dinner."

"That's okay," he said. "I'll drive you."

We walked out of the park and back to his car, then Xavier sped off toward Wayne Manor at almost the speed of light.

While we drove, I prayed that I didn't have to face Bruce's wrath, but with the way things turned out, I probably would have to.

"We're here," Xavier said once he'd pulled up in front of the gates.

"Thank you," I said, fumbling with my seat belt.

"Kori, wait," Xavier said, grabbing my hand as I unclasped my seat belt and started to climb out of the car.

"What?" I turned to face him.

"This," he said, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Good luck in there."

Then he sped off.

"You…too," I said slowly, starting to run up the steps.

"Miss Kori," Alfred said, opening the door as I neared it.

"Hi, Alfred." I stepped inside. "What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Chicken soup," he said, but I didn't hear him, since I was already running toward the dining room.

"Hi, everyone," I said breathlessly as I sat down. "Sorry I'm late."

Bruce smiled. "That's okay," he said.

"I was just out getting ice cream with a boy named Xavier Redgrave," I said, taking a sip of my soup.

"You_ did_?" Helena asked, her eyes sparkling in an almost disturbing way.

"I like Xavier," Bruce said. "He's one of my business partner's son and I always met him at parties. He's a good kid, albeit a bit of a troublemaker."

"Anyway," I said, "we just got ice cream and lost track of time. Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah," Jason said. "Dick told Bruce that you were going out with Xavier."

"I did not!" Richard yelled.

"Jesus, calm down," Jason said.

"Fine," Richard grumbled, going back to his soup.

When I finished eating a little while later, I went up to my room, intent on getting some free time, but just as I was about to log on to Wizard101, there was a knock at my door.

"Kori, open up!" It was Helena, no doubt.

I unlocked my door and she walked in, plopping herself down on my bed and bouncing on it.

"Oh, please tell me about what happened!" she exclaimed pleadingly, folding her hands as if in prayer.

I chuckled. "Fine."

For the next ten minutes, I told her all about it – the ice cream, the dancing, and finally the kissing.

"Don't tell Dick about this," I said in most authoritative voice once I'd finished.

Helena pretended to zip up her lips and throw the key away. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."

"Good," I said, then folded her into a hug.

As I was logging in again after Helena had left (if I waited too long, I had to log in again), Richard came in and sat down next to me.

"Hi," I said politely, not taking my eyes off the screen.

"Why the hell did you do that?" he asked angrily.

"Why did I do what?" I asked innocently, not knowing what he was talking about. (I wasn't playing dumb. I genuinely had no idea what he was talking about.)

"Why were you kissing that Xavier guy at the park?" he asked angrily.

Instinctively, I flinched. How did he know? Finally, I decided to tell him the truth.

"Yes, I was kissing him," I said truthfully, "but it wasn't one of those kisses where the boy sucks the girl's face off. It was more of a your-lips-are-like-delicate-flower-petals kiss. It was a thank you kiss, really."

"That didn't answer my question," Richard said. "I asked you _why_ you were kissing him, not _how_ you were kissing."

"The truth is that he seemed really nice and was an amazing kisser," I said, wanting him to leave. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

Richard scoffed. "What? Don't I have the right to be curious?"

"Is it because you love me?" I whispered in his ear, having finally gotten why he was acting like this.

"Hell, no!" he exclaimed, but his cheeks were starting to turn pink.

"Then if it's not that," I asked, "why did you come here?"

"I got an e-vite a couple minutes ago from my friend Roy," he said. "He's inviting us all to a beach party tomorrow and said I can't come unless you come, too."

"Really?" I asked, feeling surprised but pleased and happy.

"Yeah," Richard said. "Apparently, some of the boys really like you."

"That's good news," I said, eager to play Wizard101. "Can you please go now? I'd like some alone time, thank you."

"As you wish," Richard said, getting up and walking toward the door, closing it behind him.

When he was gone, I breathed a sigh of relief and went to look for a proper swimsuit.

Five minutes later, I finally found them: a neon purple bandeau bikini and a cute, white monokini as a backup.

After I was done packing my things (swimsuits, towel, goggles, glasses, cover-up, flip-flops, iPod, and magazines) I just zoned out and started to play.

As I played, I thought about Richard's reaction when I asked him if he loved me. He'd said no, but he'd blushed, so that was a sign. I knew he definitely felt _something_ for me, somewhere deep down inside, but maybe he didn't even know it yet, so I'd give him time.

With nothing better to do, I played until my eyes burned then brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. That night, I went to sleep thinking about the party.

The next day, after waking up, showering, scarfing down my breakfast as quickly as I could, then getting ready, Richard was yelling at me, saying that I was taking too much time getting ready and we were going to be late, Helena was clutching onto my leg and screaming and cying to be allowed to come with us until Tim had to forcibly pry her off and start apologizing.

"Bye, everyone!" I called as I started to exit the house.

"Bye, Kori," Helena sniffled, so sadly that my heart broke a little. Poor child.

All of a sudden, I found myself being lifted up into the air, causing me to scream a little.

"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Richard yelled, racing out the door, down the steps, and toward the car, not even bothering to say goodbye. Hmph. How rude.

"Hey, what's the rush?" I asked as he practically threw me inside the passenger's seat, then got in himself. "It's only eleven-thirty. The party doesn't start until noon."

"I just want to get a good parking spot," Richard said as we raced down Jump's streets exactly like the week before.

"You could've told me instead of being so brusque, mister," I said, bristling a little.

The heat was unbearable and not even opening the windows all the way down helped much.

"Is your car a convertible?" I asked, fanning my face with my hand.

"Yeah," Richard said, pressing a button. "I was wondering when you'd ask."

I gave a blissful sigh as the top fell out of sight, leaving only the windshield. It was much less hotter now, and the breezes and sun felt so good on my skin!

Feeling refreshed, I leaned back in my chair, and my feet brushed something on the floor.

I reached down and picked it up.

It turned out to be a CD case labeled _Helena's Songs_, but the disk wasn't there, so I guessed it was in the stereo.

"What's this?" I asked Richard, showing him the case.

"Helena's songs," he said. "Ever since I turned sixteen, they've been making me drive her everywhere and she requested to have her own CD of songs since she thinks the radio's kinda boring."

I checked out the song list:

"Applause"

"Counting Stars"

"Team"

"Burn"

"Happy"

"Circus"

"Till the World Ends"

"Gangnam Style"

"Hit the Lights"

"Who Run the World? (Clean Version)"

"Do It Like A Dude (Clean Version)"

"She Wolf"

"Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)"

"Your little sister has good taste in music," I said truthfully, looking at the list.

"They're just songs," Richard said, pressing the CD button and turning the sound up, causing "Applause" to blare.

Not in the mood for any Lady Gaga, I changed it to "Suerte," mainly because I loved Shakira and was part-Spanish, so I never messed up the Spanish parts.

By the time I was belting out the chorus, we'd arrived at the beach, and I couldn't see why Richard acted the way he had this morning, since the parking lot was almost empty, other than a bunch of cars.

I stepped out and went to the trunk to get my things, letting the sun's warmth wash over me and soothe me.

It was such a gorgeous day! The sky was a brilliant, bright blue and completely cloudless. The sand was sparkling white and, from a distance, it might've looked like sugar and the water looked so crystal clear I was sure I could see my reflection. Other than my friends, some children with their parents, and their gleeful shrieks, the beach was completely empty and quiet. Perfect.

"Come on, Richard!" I exclaimed happily, not being able to contain my ecstasy. Without waiting for a response, I bolted toward the beach, where everybody was still setting up.

"Hey, everyone!" I called out, setting my stuff down.

"Finally!" Artemis exclaimed, rushing over to me and giving me a hug then a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, look who decided to show up," Jade said jokingly, doing the same.

"Thanks," I said back, doing the same to them. "Where are the others?"

"Over there," Artemis said, adjusting her white tankini top and matching bottoms.

"Let's go," I said, picking my stuff up.

"Kori's here, you guys!" Artemis yelled loudly, spreading her arms wide as if to announce my arrival.

"Oh, my God! Kori!" Karen yelled, rushing over to give me a hug. "How ya been, girl?" She was dressed in a yellow-and black-striped bikini that reminded me of a bumblebee.

"Fine," I said, giving her a kiss. "Where's Rachel? I'd like to talk to her."

"She's over here." Karen led me to a giant golf umbrella.

"Hi, Rach –" I broke off in mid-sentence when I realized how different her hair was.

Instead of being inky black and falling down to her chin in a perfectly straight line, it was now short, spiky, and dyed a beautiful amethyst shade.

"Hello, Kori," Rachel said, looking up from her book.

"Your hair," I said stupidly, pointing at it.

Rachel cracked a tiny smile. "I know," she said, fluffing her hair with her fingers and putting her book away.

Just then, as Richard was waddling onto the beach with our stuff, a black Jaguar pulled up and Gar, followed by a very thin girl with long, blonde hair and big sunglasses that was wearing a slutty red bikini.

Next to me, Rachel groaned. "Not Tara."

"Who is this Tara?" I asked. "His girlfriend?"

"Not exactly," Rachel said hesitantly.

"What do you mean, not exactly?" I asked. "If a guy and a girl act like that" – I motioned to the two of them, where they were kissing like they wanted to suck each other's faces off – "they're either boyfriend and girlfriend or they're not."

"I don't really care, to tell you the truth," Rachel said. "I'm just happy that he's leaving me alone."

"Why?" I asked. "What's so bad about him?"

"He talks too much, eats only tofu, and only knows how to tell awful jokes," Rachel said, adjusting her black one-piece and starting to put on some sunscreen.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could Richard and Wally walking out onto the beach with stuff. Wally's nose was covered in sunscreen, which I guessed was necessary, with his fair skin and freckles.

"The Wall-Man is here!" he yelled loudly. "Now let's get this party star –" He suddenly tripped over his own two feet, crashing to the ground and sending his stuff flying.

" – ted?" he finished lamely, his black sunglasses askew.

"Wall-Man, huh?" Artemis asked. "I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"

"Uh, who's this?" Wally asked, standing up.

"Artemis," she said. "Your new pain in the ass."

"Wally West," he said. "Never heard of you."

"She's my baby sister," Jade said, walking up to her.

"Who are you?" Wally asked.

"She's my baby sister," Jade repeated. "We're here for the party."

Wally scoffed. "Like you know anything about a party," he said. "Who are you?"

Artemis simply rolled her eyes and started walking away.

"Hey, this isn't over!" Wally called after her, setting his stuff. "You. Me. Volleyball. Now." He pointed to the net.

Artemis smirked, and something about that told me she'd already won.

"Okay," she said. "Let's do this."

They both got into position, with Artemis being the first to serve, while some of the people got out their video cameras. Observing them, I did the same (I'd brought my camera just in case).

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," Wally said.

Artemis, taking a running start, threw the ball up in the air, and smacked it so hard when it came down that it marveled a firework, with Wally barely being able to hit it back in time.

Honestly, the game was like something you saw at the summer Olympics. Both of them were very quick and light on their feet and made sure to hit the ball as hard as they could, never letting it slip past them. For a good minute, neither of them were able to score a point; they were that good.

"What do you say we finish this once and for all?" Artemis asked five minutes later, her face sweating and her chest heaving. Currently, she had two points and Wally had one. "After all, there can only be one winner."

"Yeah," Wally agreed. "Let's do this."

With a roar of power, Artemis threw the ball up in the air and smacked it when it came down like the first time, but only with so much power this time that it rivaled a tiny explosion.

Needlessly to say, the ball hit Wally right in the face, but he didn't crash to the ground immediately like I thought he would.

Instead, he stumbled back, then fell right on his butt and just lay there, moaning like a sick person, until he felt an incoming wave splash his face, making him get up.

"Yes!" Artemis cheered, doing a cartwheel. "I win!"

"You go, baby sis!" Jade cheered enthusiastically, her fingers working furiously on her phone. "This is so going on YouTube!"

"Jade, don't," I laughed, walking over to Wally and helping him stand up. "That's just cruel."

"Nah, put it on there," Artemis said.

I just rolled my eyes and walked back to my towel, where Rachel was still reading her book.

"How come you're not out in the sun?" I asked, dragging my towel away from the shade of the umbrella so I could get a tan then sitting down.

"One," she said, not looking up from her book, "if I spend too much time in the sun, I'll get burned and two, fun in the sun isn't really my idea of fun."

I was about to respond when Victor called out, "Hot dogs in thirty minutes, y'all!" then slapped some on the grill.

Thirty minutes later, the food was all ready and Victor was walking around with two plates of hot dogs while Wally was nursing a nasty bloody nose that he'd gotten during the third – and last – volleyball rematch. Apparently, he'd decided that three rematches were more than enough and had resigned himself to the fact that Artemis was better than him.

"Thank you for the food, Victor," I said, taking two hot dogs for myself and Rachel once he'd come around.

"No problem, you two," he laughed. "Oh, and by the way, it's Vic, not Victor."

"Fine, then," I said, taking a bite. "Just Vic from now on."

The second he'd left, Garfield and his "girlfriend" marched up to us, both of them laughing hysterically.

"Listen to his joke," Tara laughed. "So, Gar, what's up?"

"Nothin' but the sky, baby," he answered, laughing.

"So funny!" Tara shrieked, wiping a tear.

"See, Rae?" Garfield asked happily. "She thinks I'm funny!"

"Statistically," Rachel deadpanned, her eyes narrowing into tiny, dangerous slits, "I suppose someone has to."

Garfield frowned, then walked away, taking Tara with him.

"Finally," Rachel sighed, polishing off her hot dog. "She's gone."

"What happened between you?" I asked curiously.

"When we were in kindergarten," she said, "we entered a poetry contest and I won first place. Ever since then, her life's work has been to make my life hell."

"That sounds harsh," I said, lying down to take a nap, then fell asleep instantly.

It seemed like I'd barely slept for five minutes when I found myself being gently shaken awake by Rachel.

"Come on, Kori," she said. "It's time to go."

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and taking in the scene around me. From the looks of it, the party had been a success, the whole day having been spent catching up, playing in the water, eating, and just having a great time.

Struggling to stand up, I packed my things and trudged off toward the car, trying to clear the sleepy haze in my brain and mumbling a few goodbyes here and there.

When we got back to Wayne Manor after a nice, long drive, the sky suddenly opened up and the rain just started pouring out of it like there was no tomorrow, causing Richard to spring into the house with our stuff.

I, however, had no intention of going inside – at least not yet. The rain felt so pleasantly cool on my skin and it had been so long since I'd been able to play outside in the rain like this, with nothing on but a cover-up and a bikini.

I just played around, jumping and tumbling and spinning like a little kid – and I suppose I was one then – until I was feeling too tired and cold, then ran inside to get warm.

A/N: First off, dear readers, my sincerest apologies for making you wait so long for the next chapter, but I was busy. On the other hand, what do you think of the Kori/X/Richard drama? Originally, I was going to write a love triangle, but since I've never written a love triangle in my life, I'd decided it'd be too much work and I didn't want to butcher it with my lack of experience so I just decided to make Kori and Richard whatever you call people that aren't boyfriend and girlfriend but feel something for each other at this point and Xavier a…special someone that I'm going to use later in the story. Thirdly, my fourth story, centering around Batman's kids, Helena and Damian, called, "Big Sister, Little Brother," has been published and yet to be updated, and I'd appreciate it if you all leave a review. Lastly, if you've read the last chapter, like Grams, and want me to keep her in this story, a poll is still up on my profile if you want to vote. At this point, you know what to do!

Love,

The Diamond Princess


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It rained nearly every day after that, but I didn't really mind, since I could usually convince everyone in the house to go stomp puddles, which was usually very fun, during most of the weekend. Once, I even managed to convince Richard to join us, but it'd been hard and he'd looked bored beyond belief, leaving me feeling like my efforts had been for nothing. Oh, well.

On Sunday, after playing chess with Jason and winning six matches in row, I decided to go up to my room to talk to parents, since it was too wet and cold to go outside and they hadn't heard from me in days.

Once I'd gotten my laptop, I scanned my contact list, looking for Daddy's username. Luckily, the symbol next to it was green, so I clicked on it.

Almost immediately, he answered.

"_Hello, love_," he said brightly.

"Daddy!" I exclaimed happily, wrapping my arms around my laptop. It felt so good to be able to talk to him, even if only on Skype.

"_So, how are you?_" he asked curiously.

"Fine," I answered. "Where's Mommy? I want to talk to her, and I won't give you all the details unless she's here, too."

Daddy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "_Lou-Anne, get out here!_" he called.

"_What the hell, Marius?_" I heard Mommy ask.

"_It's Kori!_" he shouted.

"_Oh, Kori, darling!_" she exclaimed happily, finally stepping into view. Like usual, her red hair – same as mine – was up in its usual milkmaid braid hairstyle and she looked stunning, even though she was just wearing jeans and a white t- shirt.

"Mommy!" I exclaimed happily, like I'd done last time, and wrapped my arms around my laptop again.

"_Hello, love_," she said warmly, wrapping her arms around herself. "How's life?"

I told them all about what I'd done these past two weeks and all about the Wayne, but I didn't tell her about who was whom but when Mommy asked why Richard had taken me to the movies, I lied and told her he took me to be nice, leaving out the part about how the soup burned my thighs.

"_Bravo, dear_," she said admiringly once I'd finished. "_I'm so happy that you got to play Juliet, but I want you to be careful around Richard. I know of his reputation and I don't want him making a fool out of you._"

"Honestly, Mom!" I exclaimed. "You're so overprotective! For God's sake, I've never even had a boyfriend!"

"_I know, I just cannot stand these stupid drunken playboy types_," she said. Her eyebrows rose, almost imperceptibly, as if daring me to contradict her and say that while Richard_ was _a playboy, he wasn't a _drunken_ playboy, but I thought back to what Karen had said about him, and she'd said it with enough conviction, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"So," I asked, trying to cut through the sudden akwardness, "how's life for you two?"

"_Good enough_," Mommy answered, her eyes glittering with something strange, as if she'd just proved me wrong, which she kind of had in a way, I supposed. "_My boss wants to send me to a conference in New York._"She worked for a top publishing house, and they sent her to conferences sometimes.

"_Where's the rest of the family?_" Daddy asked conversationally. "_I'd love to meet them._"

"Everyone! Get in here!" I called. "My parents want to meet you!"

Tim and Damian ran inside, followed by Helena, who was dragging Richard and Jason inside by their shirt collars. Lastly, Bruce, Selina, and Alfred came inside.

"_Hi, everyone_," Mommy and Daddy said politely, but instead of replying, everyone – except Bruce and Selina – visibly blanched, Richard and Jason most of all. Not that I blamed them. At five foot ten and six foot five, my parents were quite intimidating, especially my dad. With his crew cut blonde hair, deeply tanned skin, emerald-green gaze that was sharp enough to cut rock and the same as mine, intimidating and masculine features, layers and layers of muscle, and the thin scar that lined the underside of his left cheek as a result of serving in the war, he made men who looked like ex-wrestlers go white in the face, but underneath all that muscle was an absolute sweetheart.

Mommy was different, but she was just as intimidating when she wanted to be. While her dark brown eyes were usually very warm and gentle, when she was mad, they looked like laser beams full of dangerous electricity, her voice took on an ice-cold tone, and she seemed to tower over you even more, despite already being five foot ten, making you want to run for shelter.

Jason, surprisingly, was the first to recover.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Anders," he said, albeit a bit nervously.

"_Hello, dear_," Mommy replied smoothly. "_And please, just call us Lou-Anne and Marius. Mr. and Mrs. Anders make us sound far too old._"

"Fine, then," Jason said. "The name's Jason Todd, Lou-Anne."

"_A pleasure_," Mommy laughed.

"_Bruce, old chum!_" Daddy exclaimed suddenly. "_It's been awhile!_"

Bruce laughed. "That it has, Marius. That it has."

"Anyway," I said, hoping to get on with introductions, "this is Jason, Tim, Helena, Damian, Richard, Selina." I motioned to each one of them in turn.

When I introduced Richard, Mommy tilted her head and closed an eye as if she was analyzing him, making him squirm in place under her gaze, but then, just as quickly, she turned her attention to Helena.

"What's your name, cutie?" she asked sweetly.

"Helena Marie Wayne," Helena answered shyly, blushing and crawling into Selina's lap. "And these are my brothers Tim and Damian."

"_Ah._" Mommy nodded sagely. _Which one of you is Tim?_"

"That would be me," Tim said, raising his hand.

"_It's very nice to meet you, Tim_," Mommy said. "_You look like you and Helena have a special bond._"

At last, she turned her attention to Damian.

"_I had a feeling you were Damian_," she said. "_You and your baby sister look alike_," she added wistfully.

"Thanks," Damian chuckled. "I get that a lot."

"_I'm sure you do_," she laughed, turning her attention to Alfred. "_You must be Mr. Pennyworth_," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," Alfred said promptly. "Alfred J. Pennyworth, at your service." He smirked cheekily.

"_I'm guessing you're the glue that keeps the family together_," Daddy laughed.

"Quite right, sir," Alfred said. "Without me, Master Wayne would be a _wreck_. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to wash the dishes." He got up and left.

"_And now_," Mommy said finally, turning her attention to Selina, "_you must be Bruce's wife._"

"Yeah, I am," Selina said, tightening her already tight and possessive grip on Bruce's arm.

"_I know what that feels like_," Mommy sighed dreamily, doing the same. "_But don't even get me started on what happens if we're not there._"

"Tell me about it," Selina sighed. "Once, I was gone for three weeks and, when I got back, I found Bruce and Dick half-naked and drinking lentil soup out of the can."

"_You did not!_" Mommy exclaimed, shocked.

"I did," Selina said simply as Bruce and Richard were turning beet-red. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Bruce say goodbye." She nudged him with her arm.

"Bye," Bruce said. "It was nice talking to you again, Marius. It's as if we were at Princeton just yesterday."

"_That's true_," Daddy said.

"Well, once again," Selina said, "it was nice talking to you. Come on, kids. We should leave Kori alone with her parents."

Helena, Tim, and Damian protested a little, but they, along with Richard, left pretty quickly and pretty soon it was just me and my laptop again.

"Well," I asked, "what do you think?"

"_I love them!_" Mommy exclaimed. "_They're so nice and down-to-earth, but I'd watch out for Richard._ _Your father has good taste in college friends._"

"For God's sake, Mommy," I groaned. "I'll be fine."

"_I'm sure you will_," she said, blowing me a kiss and giving me an air hug. "_Bye, my little precious. Love you always._"

"_I love you, my little gem_," Daddy said, blowing me an air kiss, too. "_Talk to us more, okay?_"

"Don't worry, I will," I said, and then logged off.

And so the days passed. Pretty soon, we established a routine: I'd talk to Mommy, Daddy, Cammie, and Ryan on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The rain didn't let up, but I didn't let it dampen my spirits.

The following Monday, just before lunch, I suddenly found myself on the third floor; Ryan said I had a gift for being in one place then popping up in another place like a magician, but how I do this completely escapes me. All I knew was that classes had run late and students were desperate to get to the cafeteria.

As I started to walk back toward the cafeteria, I suddenly noticed a tiny flight of stairs and even though it looked like it led to nowhere, my curiosity got the better of me.

Looking left and right, then left again to make sure nobody saw me, I started to climb.

It was long – at least three flights – and slowly but surely, I saw some sunlight peeking through what looked like a door that was open just a crack and, pretty soon, I found myself standing on the school roof.

Looking around, I discovered that, along with everything you usually discover on school roofs, there was also a large greenhouse that was filled to the brim with every flower imaginable.

Closing the door behind me, I just meandered around the place, trying to take it all in. There'd been a greenhouse here all this where I could escape if things became too stressful, and I'd only discovered it today.

"Oy, you there!" came a woman's voice, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

I whipped back around, trying to figure out who it was.

As it turned out, the speaker was a red-haired woman wearing a lab coat and glasses.

"Well? What are you doing here?" she asked sharply, her green eyes narrowing into tiny, dangerous slits. "I could report you for the principal for this, you know."

"I – I was lost," I stammered truthfully. "Somehow, I found myself on the third floor and my curious nature got the best of me."

She must've been one of those people who knew when you were telling the truth, because her expression softened slightly. "That's alright. And besides, you're not doing any harm and you found my greenhouse, which isn't a claim many students can make."

"I'm sure it isn't, Miss…" I trailed off, searching for a nametag or something.

"Isley," she finished. "Miss Isley."

"Miss Isley, then," I said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you," she said. "Now come, let's go inside the greenhouse. I don't want you catching cold out here." She ushered me inside, then led me to a small living room area of sorts.

It was nothing fancy, just a tasteful orange with green throw pillows, but it looked very cozy, so I eagerly sat down.

For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence between us, and I racked my brain for a way to break it. Suddenly, I remembered the walnut brownies Alfred had packed for me this morning.

"Would you like some brownies?" I asked, taking them out.

"Depends," Miss Isley said coyly. "Are they walnut brownies?"

"Yes, of course," I said, thanking my lucky stars. "Here you go." I handed her one.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, then taking a bite.

"They're good, aren't they?" I asked, opening my chowder cup.

"Yes," she said.

It was nice, eating lunch with Miss Isley. She was a good blend of quiet and talkative, something I appreciated.

Just as we were finishing up, Miss Isley asked, "Shouldn't you be heading back to school now?"

"Why?" I asked.

Miss Isley showed me her watch, and when I saw what time it was, I could practically feel myself blanching.

"Oh, my God," I said. "I have to go. Thank you for everything." And with that, I was racing down the steps and toward my locker.

Luckily, I managed to find a shortcut and located my locker just before my English class.

As I was packing, I noticed Rachel walking up to me.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," she replied. "Where were you at lunch?"

"What?" I asked, startled by how blunt her question was.

"Where were you at lunch?" she repeated. " I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I can't really tell you," I said truthfully, turning on my heel and walking toward my English class. "I can't tell you the truth and I don't want to lie to you, so I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

I sprinted off toward my English class before she could say anything more.

In class, we just reviewed our lines, so it was quite boring. All in all, the whole day was boring.

By the time I got home, I was stewing over what had happened. The greenhouse was a sanctuary, and I felt like it belonged only to me and Miss Isley, but I felt so bad about not being able to tell her. Argh, the world had too many problems.

And so the week came and went in a haze of textbooks and schoolwork. I did absolutely nothing over the weekend, except watch _Inception_ over and over, feeling bored out of my skull.

The following week, it was finally time to read _Romeo and Juliet_. All of Monday, I was a nervous wreck. During lunch in the greenhouse – I needed to relax or I'd blow up – I could only swallow three tiny nibbles of my sandwich.

As I walked into English class, I could feel everyone's eyes on me, so I scanned the room, looking for Xavier.

"Hey, what part are you doing?" I asked, just to make friendly conversation.

"Paris," he answered.

"Sorry my husband has to kill you," I said woodenly.

He smiled. "It's okay. No big deal."

I tried to smile back, but failed miserably.

"Places, everyone, places!" Mod called, waving his arms around like a little Dutch girl.

We all did so and I waited anxiously while people recited their lines and acted out the whole thing as best they could.

About fifteen minutes later, after Richard recited his 'I never saw true beauty till this night line" it was finally time for the both of us.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand," Richard said, taking my hand and staring straight into my eyes, "the holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

"Good pilgrim," I replied, "you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion is this, for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers, too?" Richard asked.

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer," I said.

"O, then, dear saint," Richard said, "let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake," I said.

"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take," Richard said.

After that line, I knew what was going to happen. He would have to kiss me.

Ever so slowly, he leaned down, cocked his head, and pressed his lips to mine.

He was an amazing kisser, I'd have to give him that. He seemed to know exactly when to do this, when to do that, when to do whatever. His lips, like last time, were plump, soft, and pillowy, and I could taste the sushi he'd had for lunch. It tasted amazing, and I had to remember to ask Alfred to make me some.

While we kissed, the weird electricity shot through me again, along with millions of butterflies, and I think I even wrapped my arms around his neck, but I wasn't completely sure.

When we finally broke apart, Richard said, "Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged."

"Then have my lips the sin that they have took," I replied in a surprisingly steady voice.

"Sin from thy lips?" Richard asked. "O trespass sweetly –"

_Clang! Clang! Clang! _He was interrupted by the next-period bell, causing everybody to groan, even Mr. Mod.

"Class dismissed, everybody," he announced. "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."

Slowly, everybody started to trickle out and go to their next classes, but I, on the other hand, was held back by Richard, who'd grabbed my arm.

"Richard," I said curtly, "please let go of my arm."

"No," he said firmly. "Not until you tell me what you felt."

"What I felt?" I asked, not understanding. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"What you felt when we kissed in class," he clarified. "I know you felt something, Anders."

"You want to know what I felt?" I snapped. "Fine. I felt something, but I couldn't quite identify it, and frankly, it scares me half to death, not knowing what I felt. Happy?"

"So you _did_ feel something," he said incredulously. "I knew it."

"Yes, I did," I said. "At least I, unlike _some_ people I know am brave and mature enough to admit it." Then I left before he could reply.

At the end of the day, Toni, who was just passing by, came up to me with two red-and-black flyers.

"The first one," she explained, "is about cheerleading squad tryouts and the second one is about a school sleepover we're having on Friday to raise money for the art and music programs."

I looked at the flyers. The first was, as Toni had said, about cheerleading tryouts, which would take place in the gym on Saturday and Sunday at twelve and one o'clock. The second one was about the school sleepover. Apparently, admission was ten dollars, it would start at seven, and we'd be dismissed at eleven after having breakfast in the cafeteria.

"I know the sleepover sounds stupid," Toni said, "but you should give it a chance, as some of the older kids say it's kind of cool."

"I'll think about it," I said, looking the flyers over.

"Good," Toni said. "I hope you'll come, since it'll be my first."

"I'll try," I said, placing them in my backpack.

"Okay, then," Toni said. "Well, bye."

After I finished packing up, I went outside, where Richard was waiting. Surprisingly, Jason, Helena, Tim, and Damian were inside the car, too.

"Not to be rude," I asked, stepping into the passenger's seat then buckling up, "but why are you guys here?"

"Bruce's busy," Jason answered. "Another business meeting, I think."

"Anyway," Tim said, "Dick's gotta drive us."

I shrugged. "Fair enough." Feeling a bit bored, I decided to fiddle with the radio, trying to find a song I liked, finally stumbling upon "Feel This Moment."

I turned up the volume, rolled down my window, and started singing, just letting the music wash over me, and pretty soon, we got back home.

After I'd changed, I showed Selina the flyers. Surprisingly, she said yes to both of them, offering to drive me herself to tryouts, and lent me ten dollars for Friday, but made Richard come to the sleepover, too, as punishment, she said.

Later, as I was doing homework, I heard a knock at my door.

"Come on in!" I called as I was jotting down the last answer to my calculus homework. "Door's open!"

Jason walked in and sat down on my bed.

"So," he said. "I've heard you're gonna become a cheerleader –"

"Out, Jason," I interrupted him, pointing at the door. "If you're trying to flirt with me, it's not working. You're weak mentally," I added.

Scowling, he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

I smiled, satisfied.

Fortunately, the week passed quickly. Just for the hell of it, I ate lunch with Miss Isley in the greenhouse for the rest of the week, never forgetting to bring the walnut brownies, and every time one of my friends asked me where I'd been, I just told them, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." We made some progress with _Romeo and Juliet_, but, because some people kept stumbling over the words and class was cut short for the rest of the week, we hadn't quite reached the balcony scene yet, but that was fine by me.

On Friday, after I'd finished packing my overnight bag with all the necessary essentials – luckily, I'd thought ahead – I sauntered over to Richard's room, curious to see what was taking him so long, as it was already six forty-five and we were supposed to be there at seven.

As I stood motionless in the doorway, it occurred to me that this was the first time I'd ever been in his room, or at least in close proximity to it.

Since he didn't notice me, I decided to play a prank on him by saying hello, causing him to jump.

Once I'd told him what I was doing, he let me come inside. Out of curiosity, I looked around his room. It was amazing with its navy blue walls and king-size bed on the far left wall and entertainment system on the right. Every inch of the wall and ceiling was covered in posters of athletes, singers, and a few Playboy bunnies, but what really caught my eye was his dresser, which was covered with pictures of him and his friends and his friends and his family.

I walked over to it, examining every photo carefully.

There was a Christmas photo with the family, a photo of him and Bruce at a lake with a giant fish, one of him standing in front of the Empire State Building. There were three other photos of him when he was younger, maybe eighth grade or so, partying with his friends, and there was one of him standing with Ellie Goulding, but the photo that really caught my eye was the most recent one.

He was at the park, his arms wrapped around a girl with bright cyan-colored eyes and thick, wavy, medium-length black hair. He wasn't wearing his glasses, and judging from the background, it was probably November, so they were both bundled up. The girl was nuzzling her face in his neck and they both looked so happy I felt like I was intruding on a private moment, so I had to look away.

"Hey, you okay?" Richard asked, slinging his overnight bag over his shoulder.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, determined to not let him see I was crying and trying to let go of the strange, dull ache in my ache. I knew why I had that ache in my chest. It was because I liked him, but out of all people, why did I have to like_ him_? I liked Xavier, too, but he was more like an innocent little crush you playfully kissed when you were playing Spin the Bottle. With Richard, it was totally different.

"Richard, who's the girl in the picture?" I asked, motioning to it.

"That's Zatanna," he said wistfully.

"Oh," I said, very quietly. "Can we please go now? I don't want to be late."

"Yeah, let's go," he said.

When we got to school and had paid our admission, I was relieved to find that I hadn't missed anything, as most people were just setting up their sleeping bags on the gym floor. I was a little worried that the whole thing would be ninety percent girls and ten percent boys, but luckily, it seemed like a pretty even blend.

While Richard went off to join his guy friends, I scanned the floor, looking for an empty space and finally finding one next to a girl with feathery pink hair down to the hollow of her neck.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

She turned around, revealing wide, navy-blue eyes set in a tiny, round face, along with a tiny nose, giving her an innocent quality, though she looked older than me.

"Feel free to set your stuff there," she said, her star-shaped nose piercing glinting in the light.

"Thanks," I said, doing just that. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Nicole Weathers, but my nickname's Kole with a K," she said.

"Why a K?" I asked.

"Looks cooler on paper," she said.

I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around, coming face-to-face with a guy that had golden blonde hair hanging in long ringlets and a face like a girl, with shining green eyes and long lashes, but with a fine, straight nose to give him a masculine quality.

Immediately, I felt like I knew him, even though I couldn't place a name or time to his face.

"I know you," I said thoughtfully, tilting my head. "I'm certain of it." I thought hard, and then I remembered: he was Rose Wilson's older brother.

"You're Rose Wilson's older brother," I said. A year ago, I'd gone to a ballet camp and we'd bonded, since I'd helped her with her technique, and we'd often talked about our families.

"The one and only Joseph Wilson," he laughed. "Wow, you have a have a great memory."

"How'd you know me?" I asked.

"She talked about you all summer," he answered. "Wouldn't shut up."

I couldn't help but feel a bit honored by his words.

"So," I asked nonchalantly, "are you two dating?"

"How did you know?" Joseph asked, looking impressed.

I shrugged. "I can just tell."

"Well, you're right about that," Kole said affectionately, looking up at Joseph. "He _is _my boyfriend."

"How long have you two been dating?" I asked.

"We celebrated our three-year anniversary this past weekend," Joseph said happily.

"And both of you are…" I trailed off.

"Seniors and eighteen," Joseph finished.

"Thanks, Joseph," I said.

"You're welcome," he said. "Oh, and by the way, you don't have to call me Joseph. Just Joe is fine."

"Fine, then, Joe," I said, continuing to set up my things.

As I was playing with my phone, I felt another tap on my shoulder, courtesy of Karen.

"Hey, girl!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd never show up! Hey, guys, Kori's here!"

A second later, I found myself being hugged by every girl at my lunch table, even Toni, who didn't have lunch with me. As for Rachel, she just patted me gently on the shoulder, not being very much of a hugger.

Jesus, relax!" I shouted once they'd let go. "It's not like I've been gone for months!"

"I know," Babs said, walking up next to me and giving me a gentle peck on the forehead, "but the party was gonna be boring as hell without you."

"Thanks," I said, noticing how all our sleeping bags were set up closely together so we could talk and have fun.

The gym doors creaked open again, and another girl walked in. She was dressed in only white flare jeans, matching flats, a tight, violet silk tank top and nothing else, despite the weather, and had wavy black hair with strands hanging over her ears to frame her face, and cyan-colored eyes.

I'd know those hair and eyes anywhere, despite only having seen them thirty minutes ago for the first time; they were very striking and meant one thing.

Zatanna had come back.

A/N: I'm sorry for posting so late at night, but today, on Saturday, May 3, 2014, I participated in my school's talent show singing "Let It Go" and, honestly, it was one of the best nights of my life. The show ended at 5:30 (I was the twenty-second act out of twenty-four acts) and it can take me up to five hours or even more to write one chapter (yes, you heard right) and that's why I'm posting so late. What do you think of my decision to add Zatanna? Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review! I know that, right now, it might seem like only drama and not enough romance, but we'll get to the fluffy boyfriend/girlfriend goodness soon, I promise! Just a few more chapters then Richard and Kori will officially be boyfriend and girlfriend! There will be some drama involving Zatanna in the next chapter, as well as X and Kori, but not too much (at least until a certain point) but for now, I'm keeping it to a minimum. Lastly, I will give the first person that figures out who Miss Isley is a virtual sweet treat of their choice and will be deleting Grams from my story. I made a poll a couple weeks ago about whether I should keep her and since practically no one's voted, I'm sending her packing. Before I forget, please rate and review and spread love not hate!

Love,

The Diamond Princess


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